Five people are dead after a fire tore through a residential building in Antwerp early this morning. London-based building safety experts have been dispatched to the scene, sources confirm. The blaze broke out at approximately 3 a.
m. local time in a six-storey apartment block in the city’s northern district. Emergency services pulled four bodies from the rubble overnight; a fifth victim died in hospital.
Firefighters contained the inferno by dawn. The cause remains unclear, but authorities suspect faulty wiring or a gas leak. The building had no sprinkler system and only one staircase, survivors told reporters.
London’s response is fast. A team from the Institute of Structural Engineers landed in Belgium this afternoon, according to documents obtained by this paper. The team includes fire safety specialists and forensics experts.
They are expected to examine the building’s cladding, fire doors, and evacuation routes. Their report could take weeks. This is not just Antwerp’s tragedy.
It is a test of Europe’s building safety standards after Grenfell. The British government has offered assistance through the Foreign Office. A spokesman said: “We stand ready to support our Belgian partners.
Lessons learned here will be shared.” But the families of the dead demand action now. They want answers about why the building lacked basic fire protection.
They want to know if cheap materials played a role. One relative told me: “My sister called me. She said the smoke was black.
She said the stairs were on fire. Then the line went dead.” The building was built in the 1970s, renovated in 2018.
Records show the renovation included new windows and insulation. Fire safety upgrades were not part of the plan. The local mayor has promised a full inquiry.
But inquiries take time. Meanwhile, the bodies pile up. London experts are there to help.
They are looking at the same kind of cladding that burned at Grenfell. They are checking if the building had a fire alarm system that worked. They are counting the exits.
In Antwerp, the fire chief said the building’s design made rescue difficult. “Narrow corridors. No external escape routes.
It was a death trap,” he told reporters. The death toll could rise. Two people remain in critical condition.
Five homes were destroyed. Dozens are displaced. The London team will also advise on emergency response protocols.
They will study how the fire spread. Their findings will be shared with regulators across Europe. But will anyone listen?
After Grenfell, the UK promised change. Yet flammable cladding still covers thousands of buildings. In Antwerp, the same story.
Cheap construction. Weak oversight. Dead tenants.
The British experts will do their job. They will produce a report. It will sit on desks.
The question is: will it gather dust, or will it save lives? I’ll be watching the money. Who built the renovation?
Who approved the materials? Who signed off on safety? That’s where the bodies are buried.
The fire is out. The investigation is just beginning. Stay with me.
