Overview
- A fire broke out early Tuesday on the second floor of the OXY Tower renovation at Place de Brouckere and flames spread up and down elevator shafts, triggering a secondary underground blaze that complicated rescue work.
- Emergency teams found charred bodies inside one elevator cabinet while six construction workers remain unaccounted for and the precise death toll is still provisional.
- Rescuers evacuated about 200–250 people from the site and used thermal cameras and sniffer dogs as they continued constrained searches of a second, hard-to-reach lift shaft.
- Two people were taken to hospital with severe burns and a firefighter was treated for heatstroke, and psychosocial support has been provided to evacuated workers.
- Workplace inspectors and the Labour Division of the Public Prosecutor's Office have opened a criminal investigation into the blaze as authorities continue site searches and forensic work to establish cause and responsibility.