Around 7.20 p.m. on Monday, emergency crews were called to Avenue Winston Churchill in Uccle after a fire broke out in a sixth-floor residential block in Brussels.
Brussels firefighters, emergency medical teams and officers from the Marlow police zone were dispatched to the scene.
Upon arrival, firefighters confirmed that the blaze was located at the rear of the building. The door to the flat was forced open so that crews could tackle the fire from inside.
A resident on the eighth floor was evacuated using an aerial ladder while teams carried out Search and Rescue operations inside the burning property.
The tenant of the flat, a woman, was found unconscious. Medical teams, including the St-Elisabeth and HM SMUR units and 112 ambulances, attempted prolonged resuscitation for about 50 minutes.
Despite their efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The damaged flat has been declared uninhabitable. Power supplies were cut by Sibelga, and after ventilation and carbon monoxide checks, the remaining floors of the building were deemed safe for residents to return.
The exact cause of the fire has yet to be established, though authorities currently believe it was accidental.
The operation ended at around 9 pm.
