Six workers died in Brussels today after a fire broke out at a building complex undergoing renovation, according to an updated toll from Belgian authorities.
The workers were trapped in an elevator as the fire spread through the shaft at the Oxy complex, located in the center of the Belgian capital. “Six bodies have been found,” a spokesperson for the mayor’s office told the AFP news agency in the afternoon, adding that searches of the building were continuing but no further victims were expected.
Valentina Marocchi, a spokesperson for the Labor Inspectorate, said officials would still check a second elevator, “hopefully no one will be found there.”
Firefighters were called shortly before 8 a.m. to the fire at the complex, where roughly 200 people were working at the time. The cause remains unclear, but the fire spread through an elevator shaft, triggering a major response to evacuate workers and bring the blaze under control.
King Philippe and Prime Minister Bart De Wever visited the site to be briefed on the operation. Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said he was shaken by the tragedy, writing on X that his thoughts were with the victims and their families, and thanking firefighters and everyone involved in the large-scale operation.
