World

Fourth body found after Belgian explosion

By AAP Newswire

Jan 1, 2022

Belgium Blast — A blast has destroyed a residential in Turnhout, Belgium, with at least four people reported dead. -AP

Rescuers have recovered a fourth body after an explosion in a residential building in the northern Belgian town of Turnhout.

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The town's mayor announced on Saturday that no residents are now considered missing. The search operation has been suspended, he told the Belgian news agency Belga.

The explosion in the four-storey house had occurred early on Friday morning.

A trapped woman was rescued alive from the rubble late in the evening and taken to hospital. She had been able to contact rescue workers shortly after the explosion in the morning, but could not be rescued for more than half a day because of the severe damage to the building.

Considering the circumstances, she was doing very well, Mayor Paul Van Miert said on Saturday.

Photos from the scene of the accident showed that parts of the top two floors of the four-storey building were destroyed by the explosion.

Parts of the outer wall and parts of the ceilings were torn away. There was initially no information on the exact cause of the explosion.

"We suspect a gas explosion," said Van Miert.