A 75-year-old man has died in a fire at his flat in Opwijk, (Flemish Brabant) on Monday evening. News of the man’s death was confirmed by the emergency services s on Tuesday morning. The Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
The other residents of the building escaped unharmed. They are two women, one of whom elderly, and a young couple. The elderly woman was taken to hospital for a medical examination.
The fire broke out shortly after 9pm on Monday evening. When the fire service arrived, flames were raging in the ground floor flat of the four-storey building. It took the fire service some considerable time to extiguish the blaze.
The Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor's office has appointed a forensic pathologist and a fire expert to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fire. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined.