Dead and injured in Antwerp apartment building fire

Several people have died and others have been injured in a fire that broke out in a 10-storey building in Antwerp, Belgian police said.

Thick smoke was seen billowing from the eighth floor of the building in the Linkerover district after the fire broke out around 10:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Dramatic video shows a man screaming from a balcony through a neighbor’s window to escape the black smoke.

The police said that more than 200 people were living in the block and the bodies of several victims were found.

Resident Gert Deulf told Belgian public TV how thick smoke stopped him from leaving his apartment: “We locked ourselves in our apartment and waited on the balcony. The fire brigade came to rescue us from the balcony 10 minutes later.”

Firefighters said they were going from flat to flat to search for victims, adding that it was difficult to evacuate people as the smoke quickly spread through the building.

Another person said his son-in-law, former mayor of Antwerp Bob Kulls, had successfully escaped the building and been taken to hospital.

We tried our best to save the cat but unfortunately we couldn’t do it in the end.

Police said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, although witnesses told De Standard newspaper that work was being done on the roof.

Antwerp Fire Brigade spokeswoman Marie de Klerk said it was a complex fire and the poor visibility and thick smoke in the building made it difficult to extinguish.

Prime Minister Bart de Weaver said his thoughts were with the victims and displaced residents of the “terrible fire” in Linkerover.