ANTWERP, July 1 (Reuters) – At least 5 people were killed in a fire \u200bin a 10-storey apartment tower in the Belgian city of Antwerp on \u200cWednesday, police said.<\/p>\n
Police spokesperson Kim Bastiaens said it was still too early to give a figure for the number of injured, or determine the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Local media had previously reported \u200bsix deaths, citing police, but that figure was later revised down.<\/p>\n Reuters saw rescuers \u200blowering residents from the side of the building by rope. Survivors \u2060described being trapped inside until police and firefighters arrived shortly after the blaze started \u200bin the morning.<\/p>\n “LUCKY TO HAVE GOTTEN OUT”<\/p>\n 80-year-old Jaklien Heeren, who lives on the fifth \u200bfloor, said she considered herself lucky to escape.<\/p>\n Item 1 of 6 Rescuers work at the site of a fire in an housing building in Antwerp, Belgium, July 1, 2026. REUTERS\/Yves Herman<\/p>\n [1\/6]Rescuers work at the site of a fire in an housing building in Antwerp, Belgium, July 1, 2026. REUTERS\/Yves Herman Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n “I tried to go down, I opened the door and I could smell” the fire, she said. “(I) could see small flames were coming, and then I \u200bwent out, and from then, I know nothing any more. I went out \u200band I was lucky.”<\/p>\n She managed to get her dog out of the building as well, but two \u200cof \u2060her neighbours were not answering their phones, she said.<\/p>\n Geert Dewulf, who lives on the 10th floor, told Belgian broadcaster VRTNWS: “We tried to get down on our own but we couldn’t manage it any more. We barricaded ourselves in our apartment and waited \u200bon the terrace. About \u200b10 minutes later, \u2060the fire department came to rescue us from the terrace with their fire ladder.”<\/p>\n DOORS AND WINDOWS CLOSED<\/p>\n Several fire brigades from different districts \u200bwere on site, as were ambulances and other emergency crews. \u200bPolice told \u2060residents nearby to keep doors and windows closed to avoid harm from the smoke.<\/p>\n Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a former mayor of Antwerp, said on X that his thoughts \u2060were \u200bwith the victims.<\/p>\n Belgium has experienced a series of severe \u200bblazes in the past weeks<\/a>, including one in a warehouse in Brussels<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reporting by Inti Landauro, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Caden \u200bKipfmueller, Marta Fiorin, Yves Herman, Editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Alex Richardson, Sharon Singleton, Peter Graff<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n