BELGIUM: Mayor says nine bodies found in Belgian building collapse;.Belgium PM visits site

Record ID: 216148

  • Title: BELGIUM: Mayor says nine bodies found in Belgian building collapse;.Belgium PM visits site
  • Date: 29th January 2010
  • Summary: LIEGE, BELGIUM (JANUARY 28, 2010) (REUTERS) STREET WHERE COLLAPSED BUILDING IS LOCATED COLLAPSED BUILDING FIREFIGHTERS ON SITE, ONE CARRYING A LADDER STREET CORDONED OFF/LOCALS TRYING TO LOOK THROUGH FIREFIGHTERS RECLINING LADDER ON RUBBLE NEWS CONFERENCE IN HALL OF THE TOWN HALL JOURNALISTS TWO FIREFIGHTERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN MARC GILISSEN, HEAD OF LIEGE
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MFWHJNF3ZKBUMQ2QMJ62JJRT
  • Story Text: Nine bodies have been found in the rubble of a collapsed building in Liege, the town's mayor said on Thursday (January 28).
    A suspected gas leak blew up the block of flats early on Wednesday (January 27) in a street in the centre of the east Belgian city of Liege, damaging adjoining buildings and shattering windows.
    Rescue teams worked throughout the nine to recover nine bodies so far, the head of Liege firefighter service Jean-Marc Glissen ''We obviously continued to work. Different teams took turns throughout the night and unfortunately found nine bodies in total. So, that's eight bodies on top of the one found early evening,'' Gilissen told journalists.
    The mayor of Liege Willy Demeyer said more people they were searching for more people ''Nine bodies have been taken out from the rubble. At that time, the nine bodies were not identified. About ten families are in contact with us through the services we put in place. 18 people are potentially concerned by the ongoing search on site," Demeyer said.
    Belgium King Albert II visited the site on Wednesday and commanded the work of the rescue teams.
    On Thursday, Belgium premier Yves Leterme went on site.
    Leterme spoke about a feeling of powerlessness and sorrow.
    ''The biggest concern is for the rescue team to find all the victims. The conditions are very tough and I think everyone is experiencing a great feeling of powerlessness and sorrow after what happened here,'' Leterme said.
    The collapse injured 21 people, three of them seriously, the Belgian news agency Belga reported.
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