Three people found dead at drugs lab in Antwerp Province (VIDEO)

Three people were found dead at a drug lab on the Lilsesteenweg in Poederlee this morning. The public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation but is not releasing much information at the minute. The circumstances in which the victims died are now under investigation.

Police and emergency services attended the scene en masse this morning, and the NICC, the National Crime Institute, is also examining the scene as is normal practice when a drugs lab is involved.

Police receive tip-off  

Earlier in the morning, police received an emergency call about the premises. "The police went to the scene and encountered an active drugs lab. Three people were dead at the scene," says Kato Belmans of the Antwerp public prosecutor's office.

A fourth victim had to be resuscitated at the scene. Two other people had to be taken to hospital: the person who alerted the police and a neighbour, who lives nearby. Nothing is known about their condition.

Many questions remain unanswered

Prosecutors have launched a judicial investigation into the production of psychotropic substances (i.e. drugs) resulting in death. The circumstances in which the victims died are now under investigation. "Hopefully the investigation will soon shed more light on the facts, including which drugs were made there and what exactly happened to the victims" a spokesman said.

There is as yet no official cause of death, but according to police sources, it is thought that toxic fumes released during the production of the drugs caused the fatalities. There are indications amphetamines were being produced. It is likely that things went wrong during the production process. Cooking drugs takes place at high temperatures and it is the most dangerous step during which many toxic substances can be released.

Neighbours noticed suspicious activities

Nothing is yet known about the identity of the victims. The building where the three dead people were found had been empty for several months. Before that, it housed a liquor store.

According to the local mayor, no suspicious activities had been noticed at the premises during the past few months.

However, a neighbour did notice suspicious activity. "During the past few days, I saw several vans arrive and drive off. We noticed that anyway, and wondered what they were doing there. This morning, of course, we saw that something unfortunate had happened."

Not a first

This is not the first time that deaths have occurred in a drugs lab in Belgium.  A few years ago, three people were found dead in a building in Hechtel-Eksel (Limburg). It turned out that the victims had died due to the toxic fumes released during the production of synthetic drugs. Drugs labs are routinely found and dismantled in the area of Belgium bordering the Netherlands.