Five people died Wednesday in a fire at a 10-story apartment building in Antwerp, Belgium, local police announced.
The fire broke out before 10 a.m. on the eighth floor of the building in the Linkeroever district of the city, the BBC reported.
The blaze also injured multiple people in the building, which housed more than 200 people in 80 apartments, Sky News reported. Authorities evacuated the occupants of the building and transported them to a local shelter.
One resident on the 10th floor told Belgian outlet VRTNWS that the electricity went out and then a fire alarm went off 3 minutes later.
“By then, there was already smoke in the hallways,” Geert Dewulf said. “We tried to get down on our own, but we couldn’t manage it anymore.
“We barricaded ourselves in our apartment and waited on the terrace. About 10 minutes later, the fire department came to rescue us from the terrace with their fire ladder.”
Police spokeswoman Kim Bastiaens told Belgian public TV that the fire “has claimed a heavy toll here at Linkeroever.”
Authorities said a technical problem on the ground floor of the building caused the blaze.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that his “thoughts are with the victims and the evacuated residents of the terrible fire on Linkeroever.”
“My deep appreciation goes out to the emergency services who are striving to help the many affected people as quickly and safely as possible, and who are working hard to bring the fire under control.”
