Antwerp Apartment Fire Kills Several in 10-Storey Block as 200 Residents Flee Smoke
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jul 1
Antwerp Apartment Fire Kills Several in 10-Storey Block as 200 Residents Flee Smoke
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 1
Summary
Several people were killed and others injured after a fire broke out just before 10:00 local time on the eighth floor of a 10-storey apartment block in Antwerp's Linkeroever district.
More than 200 people live in the building, and firefighters said thick smoke spread rapidly through the block, forcing crews to search flat by flat for victims and complicating evacuations.
Dramatic footage showed one man escaping from his balcony through a neighbour's window, while other residents said they were trapped by smoke until fire crews rescued them by ladder.
Police said bodies had already been found but it was too early to determine the cause; witnesses told De Standaard that work had been under way on the roof.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever called it a terrible fire, underscoring the scale of the disaster as investigators began examining what happened.