Two young men are being hailed as heroes by Brussels police after coming to the aid of residents whose apartment building had caught fire in the middle of the night.
In the early morning of 19 June, friends Yâssir and Riad were unable to sleep due to the heatwave in Brussels at the time.
Instead of tossing and turning in their beds, the pair decided to go out for a walk. As they were walking down Rue du Trône just after 04.30, they came across a building with its roof on fire.
The young men immediately alerted the local fire department, then sprang into action to help people inside the building. They rushed inside, knocking on doors to alert residents that the roof of the building was on fire.
The pair traversed up and down the hallways as the building filled with smoke, knocking and shouting. They then went on to alert people in the building next door to evacuate in order to ensure their safety.
Firefighters arrived on scene at 04:47 and were able to quickly get the blaze under control. One person was reported injured and was subsequently treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the Brussels-Capital-Ixelles police, Riad and Yâssir's actions were heroic and crucial to preserving life that day.
"Without the swift and decisive intervention of these young men, several people would not have left the scene in time," said a police inspector. "They are heroes."
The Brussels Fire Brigade took this opportunity to remind the public that smoke detectors are mandatory in homes and can be potentially lifesaving. "There won’t always be heroic people at the scene of future fires", they said.
