Undocumented Immigrant Heroically Rescues Neighbors from Anderlecht Fire

The 20-year-old young man did not hesitate to climb onto the balcony of the burning building to help the victims. "I burned my hands on the balcony railing, which was hot because of the fire," he confides to La Dernière Heure, before adding: "We managed to get someone out from their window, others jumped, luckily there was the green tarpaulin from the store to cushion the fall."

In addition to his burns, Younes Agouram also had a broken finger. He was taken to the hospital to receive the necessary care. In an irregular situation, the young man of Moroccan origin is an undocumented immigrant and a homeless person. He survives thanks to the help of an organization in Brussels. "He deserves his papers now even if he didn’t intervene for that!" estimates his friend.

When the emergency services arrived, two victims, one on the roof and the other on the third floor, were rescued. Two others, found on the landing of the first floor and at the entrance of an apartment on the third floor, also had their lives saved. Unfortunately, three bodies were discovered by the firefighters who managed to bring the fire under control. They would be two women and a child.

"Probably the unfortunate ones made an attempt to evacuate through the completely smoke-filled and burning stairwell," explains Walter Derieuw, the spokesman for the Brussels firefighters. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to determine the cause and circumstances of the fire.