A makeshift camp in a Brussels municipality was burnt to the ground in the early hours of Wednesday, pushing its inhabitants to abandon the site they had occupied for years, according to reports on Thursday.
The inhabitants of the Molenbeek camp had already left it behind by the time the firefighters arrived on-site, after the fire reportedly broke out at 5:10 AM on Wednesday.
The fire brigade said it found seats and home-made tents on the site, which was located near the train tracks by Molenbeek's Rue Alphonse Vandenpeereboom.
The firemen were able to quickly extinguish the fires and confirmed that the remains were those of a former Roma camp, according to Bruzz.
In January, the camp was at the centre of negotiations between Brussels' regional authorities, who have projects to build apartment complexes and other buildings in the terrain, owned by national rail company SNCB.
On Thursday, the property had already been emptied out of the remains of the fire, which broke out under unspecified circumstances.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
