Six people have been confirmed dead in a fire that broke out on Tuesday morning at the OXY Tower renovation site on Place de Brouckère in central Brussels.
The deaths were confirmed late in the day by the labour prosecutor’s office. Spokeswoman Valentina Marocchi said rescuers had opened the first lift and found six bodies inside.
She said it had not yet been formally confirmed whether the bodies were those of the six workers initially reported missing. She added that the bodies had been recovered, identification was under way, and the victims’ families were being brought to the scene.
A second lift still had to be checked to ensure there were no further victims.
The fire began shortly before 08.00 a.m. on the second floor of the building, which is currently being renovated. It was first brought under control, but flames then spread into the lift shaft, causing a second outbreak inside it, which was extinguished at about 09.00 a.m.
Around 250 workers were on the site when the fire broke out. They were evacuated and taken to the BruCity staff restaurant while firefighters tackled the blaze and carried out search-and-rescue operations throughout the building.
At about 11.00 a.m., firefighters from Flemish Brabant arrived to reinforce Brussels crews.
Six workers were reported missing during the evacuation and search operations.
The fire damaged two lift shafts where workers were believed to be working at the time, and two lifts became trapped.
Shortly before 4.00 P.M., Belgium’s Civil Protection service was called in to recover the bodies.
King Philippe and Prime Minister Bart De Wever visited Place de Brouckère on Tuesday afternoon to meet firefighters and ambulance crews at the scene.
