Five people are dead after a fire tore through an apartment block in Antwerp early this morning. Belgian authorities are investigating the cause, but sources on the ground confirm the building lacked modern sprinkler systems. A fire safety inspection report, uncovered by this journalist, shows the block failed multiple safety checks in 2023.
The tragedy puts UK fire safety standards back under scrutiny, where similar high-rise buildings operate with outdated regulations. A whistleblower inside a London housing association tells me that dozens of blocks across the capital have the same deficiencies. The bodies are still being identified, but the pattern is familiar: profit before safety, paper over cracks, and families left to burn.
