A fire broke out in a ten-story apartment block in Antwerp on Wednesday morning, killing five people. Belgian police report that the flames erupted shortly before 10:00 AM (08:00 GMT) in Linkeroever, with thick smoke rising from the eighth floor.
Emergency crews evacuated 80 apartments, as more than 200 people live in the building. Dramatic videos show a man clambering through a window into a neighboring apartment to escape the black smoke. Police said the fire was caused by a technical problem on the ground floor.
The Antwerp fire department stated that visibility was extremely poor due to the thick smoke, complicating the evacuation. Belgian King Philippe later visited the evacuees at a nursing home and expressed his condolences to the victims.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
