A fire in a high-rise in Liège has claimed a third life, the Liège police reported today. The fire broke out on Monday, 24th of June at 14:00 local time in the basements of the 85-metre-high Kennedy Tower and spread through the electrical wiring to the rest of the building. It took hours for all residents to be rescued and for the fire department to bring the blaze under control.
Seventy firefighters and one hundred police officers were deployed to manage the rescue operation. The police used drones to communicate with people inside the building and reassure them. Two helicopters, one Belgian Air Component NH90 from the Koksijde Air Base along with a Luxembourg helicopter from Luxembourg Air Rescue, were used by the emergency services to attempt to rescue people from the roof of the building.
Permission was sought from the Minister of Defence through the provincial command to intervene. The needs were determined in collaboration with the Liège fire department.
On-site, the Belgian and Luxembourg helicopters were able to hoist firefighters onto the roof and evacuate residents who had fled there. The NH90 rescued ten people from the flames and brought them to safety.
One person died on the spot. On Wednesday, the Liège police reported that a second person had died in the hospital. Today, it was announced that a third person has also died.
The judiciary is investigating the fire. The Kennedy Tower has been declared uninhabitable and is completely inaccessible to residents.
