Antwerp fire live: Multiple dead as blaze rips through Linkeroever apartment block

Antwerp fire live: Multiple dead as blaze rips through Linkeroever apartment block A huge rescue operation is under way as a fire rips through an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp Multiple people have been killed in an ongoing fire at a 10-storey apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp. A huge rescue operation is under way after a fire broke out at the August Vermeylenlaan building - home to more than 200 people - in the Linkeroever district. According to the fire department, the fire is located on the eighth floor. Police have already confirmed that "multiple" people have died and others have been injured. Resident Geert Dewulf told Belgian public TV how thick smoke had stopped him getting out of his flat: "We barricaded ourselves into our flat and waited on the balcony. The fire brigade came to rescue us from the balcony 10 minutes or so later with their ladder." Key Events A map shows the location of the August Vermeylenlaan building, which police say is home to more than 200 people. Police said: "We ask local residents affected by the smoke to close windows and doors and, if necessary, switch off ventilation." A number of fire brigades from different districts are on site. The local fire department received a call at 9.53am CEST (8.53am BST) regarding a "raging fire" in the eighth floor of a 10-floor apartment block in the Linkeroever area of Antwerp, police said. "We barricaded ourselves into our flat and waited on the balcony," Resident Geert Dewulf told Belgian public TV. "The fire brigade came to rescue us from the balcony 10 minutes or so later with their ladder." An evacuation of the 10-storey building, which is home to around 200 people, is under way. Local residents have warned to keep their windows and doors closed and, if needed, to turn off any ventilators due to the amount of smoke in the air. Several people have been killed and many hurt in a fire in an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said. The blaze broke out on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighbourhood, Antwerp police said in a statement.