Fourth dead found under rubble of Antwerp apartment complex

A fourth person has been found under the rubble of the apartment complex in Antwerp that collapsed yesterday. The police have not revealed the identity of the victim.

There was an explosion in the building in the south of the city yesterday morning, almost completely blowing away the top two floors of the building. The body of a 44-year-old man was soon recovered and a second victim was recovered in the afternoon. In the evening, a third victim was recovered from the rubble, according to Belgian media a girl of 10.

The search continued all night. “We really want to be sure that no one is in the building anymore,” a police spokesperson told Belgian media. Last night, before the 10-year-old girl was found, at least two people were still missing.

The devastation after the explosion in the building yesterday:

The search is difficult because the building is very unstable. When firefighters went in yesterday morning, a wall collapsed. The fire brigade therefore searched for the victims from the outside with a ladder truck.

Emergency workers also pointed a sound sensor at the building and organized moments of silence to hear if anyone was making a sound inside. That yielded nothing. Thermal cameras and sniffer dogs were also used.

Cause unknown

How the explosion could have occurred is still under investigation. A gas explosion was previously mentioned as a possibility. But according to the gas network operator, the gas meters in the building are still intact. That would indicate that the explosion did not happen where the gas pipe enters the building.

Antwerp mayor De Wever visited the site of the explosion yesterday. Today King Filip will visit the location, as will Minister Verlinden of the Interior, reports VRT News.