Around 6:15 a.m. Thursday morning, a detonation of rare violence shook the Sint-Bernardsesteenweg district in Antwerp. A four-story building, located in a densely populated area, was almost leveled by the explosion. The debris was thrown tens of meters around, testifying to the force of the explosion.
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The human toll is heavy. Four people died in the explosion, including a ten-year-old girl, Houda. Two other victims were identified as Mohamed B., 44, and Mina Marc, mother of Houda. Five other people were injured, two of them seriously.
Emergency services were quickly mobilized to the scene. Search operations were particularly difficult due to the risk of collapse of the building weakened by the explosion. Firefighters had to demolish the building “stone by stone” to find any possible victims.
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The origin of the explosion has not yet been determined. The lead favored by investigators is that of a gas leak. Checks carried out by Fluvius, however, revealed that the building’s gas meters were intact, casting doubt on this hypothesis. Other avenues, such as the explosion of a clandestine drug laboratory, are not excluded.
The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, and the governor of the province, Cathy Berx, went there to show their support. King Philippe also visited the scene of the tragedy this Friday morning.
