A corridor fire forced the evacuation of about 20 residents from a care home in Evere early on Thursday, with 10 people taken to hospital and 15 others needing temporary rehousing.
Brussels firefighters said they were called to the home in Rue Colonel Bourg at about 04:55 after a fire broke out in a corridor on the second floor.
When crews arrived, smoke had spread through half of one wing on that floor, said Brussels Fire Brigade spokesperson Walter Derieuw. The building is arranged in a square around a central patio.
In one section of the corridor, smoke was present, but fire doors had closed off the other section, preventing it from filling with smoke.
Firefighters evacuated the rooms along the affected corridor before bringing the blaze under control. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.
Ten residents were taken to hospital. Nine suffered mild smoke inhalation, while a tenth was seriously affected, although their life is not in danger.
Because of the damage to the corridor, firefighters declared the wing temporarily uninhabitable. Fifteen additional residents will be accommodated in other care homes.
The Red Cross set up an advanced medical post in the care home’s cafeteria after an emergency medical plan was activated.
Derieuw said the fire prevention measures had worked as intended, helping to avoid the evacuation of the entire care home.
