Two young children have died in a house fire in the village of Sint-Amands in Antwerp Province. The fire broke out shortly before midnight on Sunday. When the Service arrived the two children were trapped on the first floor of the house. Their mother had made it into the front garden. She was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Although the children, aged 4 and 8 were rescued from the blaze such was the severity of their injuries that they later died in hospital.
Dirk Van de Sande of the Rivierenland Local Police Service told VRT News that “Sadly the two children died during the night. Their mother is still in a critical condition in hospital.”
A fourth person, a neighbour that went to help the family was injured when he fell over in the garden. The fire broke out just before midnight. The fire was intense, and the terraced house was severely damaged in the blaze. However, adjoining properties were not damaged.
Mr Van de Sande told VRT News that "The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing”. A fire investigation expert went to the scene and the street was closed during Monday morning.
The police spokesman added that "The mother was able to bring herself to safety and the Fire Service was able to free the children. But once again the exact circumstances of what happened will form part of the investigation”.