At least five people were killed and many others injured on Wednesday in a fire at an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said.
The blaze broke out mid-morning on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighborhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement.
“Right now, unfortunately, at least 5 people have died in the fire. There are also a significant number of seriously injured people, as well as a number of lightly injured,” Antwerp police spokesperson Kim Bastiaens told Belgian private broadcaster VTM.
The 10-story block was evacuated and local residents were warned to keep their windows and doors closed and, if needed, to turn off any ventilators due to the amount of smoke in the air.
Firefighters battled the blaze in difficult conditions due to its size and intensity, police said. Several teams of first responders and police were dispatched to the site, including a specialized drone unit.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but Bastiaens said that it had started on the ground floor, and that forensic experts were scouring the site.
A medical emergency plan was activated to keep the victims from saturating nearby hospitals.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene said that the smoke died down by early afternoon, but that many first responders were still there.
Television images from the scene showed one man on an upper floor enveloped in smoke and hanging over a balcony in an effort to get fresh air, before making his way to a nearby window.
Belgium ‘s Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a former mayor of Antwerp, said his “thoughts are with the victims and the evacuated residents of the terrible fire on Linkeroever.”
“My deep appreciation goes out to the emergency services who are striving to help the many affected people as quickly and safely as possible, and who are working hard to bring the fire under control,” he said in a post on social media.
Linkoeroever, which is located in the eastern part of Antwerp, is a large residential area dotted by high-rise apartment buildings and bordering a major park where outdoor music concerts are held.
