The Brussels prosecutor’s office is investigating a dispute between neighbours in the commune of Forest, which left one man suffering from self-inflicted burns wounds.
The cause of the original clash of neighbours is not clear, as the injured man cannot yet be interviewed. However, it appears that the dispute led one man to produce a knife and stab the other.
Police were called over the stabbing, but when they arrived they found another victim – the stabber himself – suffering from severe burns. According to witnesses, after stabbing his neighbour he set himself on fire.
“When the police arrived, it turned out that the suspected perpetrator had set himself on fire,” explained Willemien Baert of the Brussels public prosecutor's office. “The officers were able to intervene quickly and the fire brigade and an ambulance were also called.”
He was rushed to hospital, where his condition is said to be serious. His original victim, on the other hand, suffered only a minor injury and was able to leave hospital after treatment.
The prosecutor’s office is now carrying out an investigation into the events, including interviewing potential witnesses in the local area and looking at footage from nearby CCTV cameras.
Investigators from the police lab are also on the scene.
“The first elements of the investigation show that the cause of the stabbing was a neighbourly dispute,” the prosecutor's office said. “The investigation to clarify the exact circumstances of the incident is still ongoing.”
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
