For the next few days, there will be a reinforced police presence on the three campuses of Zavo secondary school in Zaventem following a deadly fight involving the school's pupils on Friday.
Kurt Gommers, the headmaster of the Dutch-speaking secondary school in Zaventem, just outside of Brussels, confirmed the added police presence on Sunday after a consultation between the school, police and municipality. The decision follows the fatal fight at Zaventem's railway station on Friday.
“Everyone can come to school with peace of mind,” the headmaster said, addressing concerns from parents, especially of first-grade pupils. Parents are anxious about sending their children to school after threatening messages were spread on social media last weekend, saying revenge would be taken in the coming days.
As a result, about 20% of first and second-grade pupils at the school were absent on Monday. The 700 third-grade pupils were already scheduled to follow classes from home on Monday anyway, so they were not at the school either.
"There are also two teachers who did not come to school on Monday, out of a total of 300 teachers. I understand the fear and understand the concern, but if you look around here, there is nothing wrong," said Gommers. So far, no incidents have been reported on Monday.
Fear of reprisals
Three people fell on the train tracks at Zaventem station during the fight between two youth groups on Friday. One 22-year-old man from Etterbeek died and a 16-year-old from Brussels was seriously injured but is out of danger.
Neither of the two victims is a student at the school, but according to several judicial sources, an argument between two pupils at the Zavo school is said to have been at the root of the brawl, De Standaard reported.
"We leave nothing to chance, but we must not give in to the culture of fear either. Pupils are still allowed to go outside during lunchtime, as always," said Gommers.
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The extra police officers are expected to remain on site for "two to three days," but the situation is monitored daily. "We think and hope that the storm will subside within a few days." The three campuses of Zavo are located in Groenstraat, which is close to the railway station, Hoogstraat and Sterrebeekstraat.
The Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor's office says that in the next few days, the context of the facts will become clear.
