By Yves Herman, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Inti Landauro
ANTWERP, July 1 (Reuters) – At least six people were killed in a fire in a 10-storey apartment tower in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Wednesday, police told local media.
Reuters saw rescuers lowering residents from the side of the building by rope. Survivors described being trapped inside until police and firefighters arrived shortly after the blaze started in the morning.
“First the electricity went out. Three minutes later we got a fire alarm. By then, there was already smoke in the hallways”, Geert Dewulf, who lives on the 10th floor, told Belgian broadcaster VRTNWS.
“We tried to get down on our own but we couldn’t manage it anymore. We barricaded ourselves in our apartment and waited on the terrace. About 10 minutes later, the fire department came to rescue us from the terrace with their fire ladder.”
Another resident, who gave his name as Gerard, described helping a neighbour escape from an apartment filled with smoke, but being unable to find her cat.
The building was believed to house about 200 people. Police told local media that at least six people had been killed. It was still too early to give a figure for the number of injured.
Several fire brigades from different districts were on site, as were ambulances and other emergency crews. Police told residents nearby to keep doors and windows closed to avoid harm from the smoke.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a former mayor of Antwerp, said on X that his thoughts were with the victims.
Belgium has experienced a series of severe blazes in the past weeks, including one in a warehouse in Brussels.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Yves Herman, Editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Alex Richardson and Sharon Singleton)
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