At least six people were killed and many others injured after a fire broke out at a high-rise apartment building in Antwerp, Belgium's second-largest city, on Wednesday (local time), according to the local public broadcaster VRT.
Local police stated that the fire started at around 10:00 a.m. in a 10-story apartment building in the Linkeroever district of Antwerp, and six deaths have been confirmed so far.
Local media reported that the death toll could rise, as several people sustained injuries of varying severity and search operations are ongoing for residents believed to have been trapped inside their homes at the time of the fire.
Police explained that approximately 200 people resided in the apartment building and that they are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
Reuters reported that rescue workers were seen using ropes and fire ladder trucks to evacuate residents who had taken refuge on the terraces of the upper floors to escape the thick smoke that quickly engulfed the entire building.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who previously served as the mayor of Antwerp, expressed his condolences to the victims via the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
While detached houses or small-scale multi-family dwellings are more common in Belgium, Antwerp, which houses Europe's second-largest port, has a higher density of high-rise apartments compared to other regions due to its high population density.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)