Several dead in Brussels construction site fire, 6 workers missing
Several people have died after a fire tore through a construction site in central Brussels on Tuesday, with rescue teams continuing a search for six
Several people have died after a fire tore through a construction site in central Brussels on Tuesday, with rescue teams continuing a search for six workers still unaccounted for, local authorities said, according to Reuters. Bodies found trapped in lift shaft An unspecified number of bodies were discovered inside one of two lift shafts at the large-scale renovation project on Place de Brouckere, in the heart of the Belgian capital, after flames broke out early on Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the local labour inspection service described the grim discovery to Reuters, saying rescuers had managed only limited access to the wreckage. "We had small access to one of the two elevator cabinets and there we had a view that there are some corpses of two or three people who died," spokesman Brecht Speybrouck told Reuters.
It remains unclear whether the bodies recovered so far account for all six missing workers, as emergency crews continue efforts to reach the second lift shaft. Search continues for six missing workers Speybrouck confirmed that six workers remained missing as the operation stretched into the afternoon, with rescue teams working to establish contact and assess the scale of the tragedy. The precise death toll had not been confirmed by authorities at the time of reporting, pending further access to the affected areas of the site. More than 200 workers evacuated from renovation project The Brussels fire brigade said more than 200 labourers had been present on site when the blaze erupted, triggering a large-scale evacuation.
Three people were taken to hospital following the incident, though their conditions have not been disclosed. Emergency services, including firefighters and civil protection units, worked through the day to search the building floor by floor as the renovation project came to a sudden halt. Fire spread from lower floors into lift shaft According to Belgian broadcaster VRT, citing the fire brigade, an initial fire on the lower floors of the building was brought under control relatively quickly. However, flames travelling through the lift shafts sparked a fresh fire on an underground floor, complicating rescue efforts and delaying access to the trapped workers. Cause of Brussels fire remains unclear Authorities have not yet established what triggered the blaze at the Place de Brouckere site.
Investigations into the cause are expected to continue in the coming days as officials work to determine how the fire originated and how it was able to spread into the lift shafts, where the worst of the casualties occurred. This is a developing story and will be updated as further details emerge from Brussels.
The BriefWire