Several of you have reported to us that you have noticed a large release of smoke at Zaventem airport. Here’s what’s happening.
“Column of black smoke about a hundred meters high seen from Puisie (Vilvoorde)“, Guillaume warns us, using the orange Alert us button. “I saw a huge cloud of black smoke from the train heading to Schaerbeek station coming from Haren Sud“, another reader tells us.
Some people even heard an explosion. There are now “a lot of fire, police and ambulance sirens,” Marilaure warns us.
It concerns a fire in an industrial building in the cargo area of the airport. It broke out around 4 p.m. and spread quickly. There are no signs of injuries at this time, no one was in the building.
“The roof of the 4,000 square meter building collapsed and the fire is still raging“, indicated Wouter Jeanfils, spokesperson for the firefighters. “Our priority was to protect the adjacent buildings and we succeeded. For the moment, there no longer appears to be any risk of the fire spreading, but extinguishing operations on the building concerned will take several hours, or probably all night. The building is almost completely destroyed and it will probably be necessary to remove the debris with cranes to completely extinguish everything.“
Smoke from the fire also extends to several surrounding communities. Residents are asked to close their windows, doors, and ventilation.
There is no impact on takeoffs and landings.
More information to come.
zaventem fire firefighters
