As Queen Beatrix and the Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, visited the town of Enschede yesterday, police refused to be drawn into speculation that an arsonist was behind Saturday's fire and blast at a firework warehouse which killed at least 20 people.
Journalists have reported rumours that the disaster may be linked to a number of recent arson attacks in the eastern Dutch town.
Mr Kok did not comment on the rumours but promised that the incident would be fully investigated and that an inquiry would take place.
The blaze at the fireworks warehouse broke out early on Saturday afternoon. Without warning there was a huge explosion followed by a secondary blast which propelled ignited rockets, other fireworks and debris on to onlookers in the streets below.
The first blast engulfed some of the firefighters and destroyed 400 houses in the immediate vicinity. Another 1,000 houses were damaged and many people killed as windows of houses were blown in and ceilings collapsed.
Some eye-witnesses spoke of victims wandering around in a dazed state covered in blood or with missing limbs. Fire brigade units from other Dutch towns and from across the border in Germany rushed to the scene.
While the cause of the disaster will be a key question for the inquiry, survivors have questioned how a warehouse containing 100 tonnes of fireworks could have been situated in a residential district of 2,000 inhabitants. Many of the residents of the district in the north of Enschede were unaware that the warehouse was a fireworks store.
Officials say the regulations on fireworks in the Netherlands are very strict, and it is almost inconceivable that such an explosion should occur. However, the inquiry is expected to draw comparisons with an explosion at another fireworks facility in the Netherlands, which claimed the lives of five people in 1991.
Yesterday the official death toll remained at 20, including three firemen, but the mayor of Enschede warned that it could rise. A further 562 people were injured, and 11 people remained in intensive care.
About 400 people, including one firefighter, were unaccounted for, but authorities believe they were not at home at the time of the blast and were urging people to come forward to have their names removed from the missing list.
Officials also monitored traces of asbestos in the air above the town. Residents of the area were advised to wash all clothes exposed to the elements before wearing them.
The asbestos was released when the fire spread to the asbestos-filled roof of the nearby Grolsch brewery.
An estimated total of 400 of the town's residences have been destroyed. Another 1,000 are damaged or badly damaged.