11 people were taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a house in the Brussels municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode on Monday afternoon. All people were injured in the process, but their lives are not in danger. The house, however, is uninhabitable.
The Brussels Fire Brigade was called to a fire at a three-storey terraced house on Rue de la Poste to the north of Botanique at around 16:25. When the team arrived, it became clear that the fire had already reached the roof.
"The residents had left the house through the front door. Ten people suffered smoke inhalation, while one child suffered second-degree burns," Walter Derieuw, spokesperson for the fire brigade, told Belga News Agency. "All 11 victims were transferred to hospital."
Two ladder trucks were mobilised to fight the flames, but the firefighters were unable to prevent the fire from spreading to the roof of an adjacent house.
"We partially opened the roof to extinguish the fire completely. Once the fire was out, we covered the hole with a tarpaulin," Derieuw explained. "The house where the fire broke out is uninhabitable." The pavement in front of the dwelling has also been closed due to a risk of falling debris, while the police are now looking after the residents of the affected house.
It is still unclear what started the fire.
