The public prosecution office is to prosecute two companies involved in the gas explosion in a block of flats in Diemen last September.

Two people were killed in the explosion: a 57-year-old woman who worked for the De Key housing corporation and is a 46-year-old man from the building company working in the apartment complex.

The public prosecutor says there was a lack of care in the preparatory work for the placement of a new glass lift shaft in the eight-storey complex leading to a gas pipe being damaged.

Both De Key and the contractor will be prosecuted, the NRC reports.

In June, the Dutch safety board said there was a lack of information between the housing corporation and the contractor. It was unclear to the contractor that a gas pipe lay in the area to be excavated.

In addition, the danger of a gas leak was underestimated, the safety board said.

The 22 damaged flats have since been repaired and the lift replaced.