Several found dead in lift shaft after fire in central Brussels building

Firefighters discovered multiple victims in a lift shaft after a blaze at a Brussels building under construction on Tuesday.

• The fire broke out at the Oxy tower in central Brussels, with the cause unclear, before being quickly extinguished.
• Firefighters found two blocked lifts in the shaft and pried one open, discovering "several victims," said Brecht Speybrouck, spokesperson for the Brussels Labour Prosecutor's Office.
• Six people remain missing; Speybrouck said the victims in the lift could be the six missing people, but others may be in the second lift or elsewhere.
• Two people were taken to hospital with serious burns, and a firefighter was treated at the scene for exposure to high temperatures.

Latest developments

• Five bodies have been recovered from the lift shaft, reducing the number of missing people to one.
• The fire originated as a small blaze on the second floor, the Brussels public prosecutor said.
• The Oxy building, formerly the Brussels-Capital Region headquarters, is being renovated into a mixed-use complex scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.