A homeless man (40) was found dead on Rue Gray in the Brussels municipality of Ixelles on Tuesday. While it was assumed he died of hypothermia, an autopsy now ruled that out as a cause of death, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Thursday.
The man's body was found on Tuesday morning. The emergency services were immediately called to the scene, but they could only confirm the death. An autopsy was performed the following day.
"The autopsy showed that no third party was involved and that the man did not die of hypothermia," said Yasmina Vanoverschelde of the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office in a press release. "A toxicological examination was also requested during the autopsy, but no results have been released yet."
Initially, the authorities assumed that the man – who had been homeless for some time and was identified by Herscham (a service of the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone that takes care of vulnerable people on the street) and a social worker from Ixelles – died of hypothermia, after the temperatures dropped well below 0°C on Monday night.
The news also followed the activation of the 'Extreme Cold' plan earlier this week, which has seen municipalities take extra measures to provide shelter for homeless people during freezing nights.
Opening of a Red Cross emergency accommodation centre for homeless people in Anderlecht, in response to the current freezing temperatures. Credit: Belga / Lou Lampaert
In less than ten years, the number of homeless people has more than doubled in Brussels, according to Ariane Dirickx, Director of the Ilôt non-profit organisation which fights against homelessness. "For several years, politics was limited to managing homelessness rather than fighting the phenomenon," she said.
"Added to this was a series of crises: the Covid crisis followed by an economic crisis, the energy crisis, the reception crisis, then the housing crisis which is becoming more and more important," Dirickx said. "It has never been so difficult to find accommodation at an affordable price than today. And it has never been easier to lose it than today."
There are over 7,000 homeless people in the Brussels-Capital Region alone and about 25% of them are children, she stated. "For the rest of the country, the number of homeless people is estimated at tens of thousands."
On top of the regular shelter with over 5,000 places, the plan adds some 150 emergency places. Additionally, public transport company STIB is allowing homeless people into public areas of metro stations and railway company SNCB is keeping part of Brussels-Midi station open overnight as well.
Opening Brussels Expo?
On Wednesday, however, the Flemish nationalist N-VA party suggested that it would be better to open Brussels Expo to homeless people during the cold nights, instead of the Midi station.
"A separate area is being provided in Brussels Midi station, under the supervision of Securail people. It is important to ensure safety," said Brussels MP and municipal councillor in Anderlecht for N-VA Gilles Verstraeten. "We know that alcohol and drug use among the homeless has increased in recent years."
For him, the big question is what efforts have been made to address long-term security in and around the Midi station. "During the summer, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden announced during large-scale checks that they would tackle the growing insecurity in the area around the station and they would go beyond symptom control."
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"But we have to ask ourselves whether much has changed in and around the station and, if so, whether the problems have not simply shifted to the surrounding neighbourhoods," Verstraeten said, adding that there are better places than the Midi station and metro stations to give shelter to the homeless during the winter nights.
"If they want to provide additional shelters, why not open a place in, for example, Brussels Expo? There's space enough," he said, explaining that the buildings are empty much of the time. "And if they could open the largest vaccination centre in the country there, then some additional emergency accommodation should also be possible."
Update: This article was updated following a statement by the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office confirming the man did not die of hypothermia on Thursday afternoon.
