Fire kills five at Antwerp apartment block

Video of the incident showed a person on a balcony being helped into a neighbouring window away from the smoke

Five people have died and several others have been injured in a fire that broke out in a 10-storey block of flats in Antwerp, Belgian police say.

Thick smoke was seen billowing from the eighth floor of the building in the Linkeroever district, after the fire broke out just before 10:00 (08:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Dramatic video showed a man clambering from his balcony through a neighbour's window to escape the black smoke.

Police say more than 200 people live in the block and the fire department evacuated 80 flats in the building.

They say the fire was caused by a technical problem on the ground floor.

"It has claimed a heavy toll here at Linkeroever," police spokeswoman Kim Bastiaens told Belgian public TV, adding that a number of people had suffered from serious and minor injuries.

Police had earlier spoken of six deaths but later revised the number down to five and during the afternoon the Antwerp fire service said the fire had been put out.

Philippe, King of the Belgians, later travelled to Linkeroever to meet some of the residents evacuated to a residential care centre and visit the scene of the fire.

Resident Geert Dewulf told VRT 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."

Firefighters said they were going from flat to flat to search for possible victims, explaining that the smoke had spread quickly through the building, making it harder to evacuate people.

Another man said his parents-in-law, one of them ex-mayor of Antwerp Bob Cools, had been successfully evacuated from the building and taken to hospital.

"We tried our utmost to save the cat but unfortunately in the end we were unable to," he said.

Antwerp fire brigade spokeswoman Marie de Clercq said it was a complex fire and the poor visibility and thick smoke in the building had made it difficult to put out.

Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his thoughts were with the victims and the evacuated residents of the "terrible fire" in Linkeroever.

The Flemish parliament began its session on Wednesday afternoon with a minute's silence for the victims of the fire.