A fire broke out on Thursday evening in the sports hall in the town of Hoegaarden, in Flemish Brabant. Images found by our colleagues at HLN seem to show that the origin of this fire was not accidental. Young people who were hanging around the scene were singled out. For the moment, nothing has been confirmed, but three teenagers aged 12 to 13 have been arrested.
A fire was reported this Thursday at the Hoegaarden sports complex. Emergency services were called to a “simple dumpster fire”, but when they arrived, the blaze was already damaging the roof of the building. The fire spread quickly and it quickly became clear that the sports hall could not be saved.
The origin of the fire is not officially known, the prosecutor announced that an investigation was underway. However, witnesses reportedly pointed to the responsibility of a group of youths who were playing with firecrackers just before the fire started.
In the images unearthed by our colleagues at HLN, we hear young people laughing and talking about “the entire gym might catch fire“. This is what ultimately happens and the people visibly begin to panic. We then hear one of the young people say that he is going to call the firefighters. Be careful, there is nothing to confirm that the people at the scene The origin of this video are also at the origin of the fire.
At the time of writing, the police can neither confirm nor deny the human origin of this fire. However, we learned during the afternoon that three boys aged 12 to 13, originally from the region, were arrested.
Fortunately, there were no injuries; there was no one in the room at the time of the incident. Despite everything, the economic consequences are significant for the municipality. There is, according to the mayor who spoke to the Flemish media, “millions of euros in damage“. All this while the sports hall had been renovated barely two years ago.
hoegaarden Flandre incendie
