The Mayor of Beringen Thomas Vints (Christian democrat) told VRT News “What at first appeared to be a normal fire that we would be able to extinguish became a flashover in which the fire was rekindled. The cause is still unknown. An investigation is ongoing”.

Sunday morning’s fire is reported to have been the third to have broken out in the building that is known locally as being used by squatters. The previous fire was last October when a squatter set a matrass ablaze. Since then the building had been sealed off and its widows boarded up. The fire started at around 2am and there was a lot of smoke.

In a press statement the South-West Limburg Fire Service says that “Unfortunately not all our colleagues were able to reach safety in time. As a result of the heat and the pressure wave park of the building, including the roof collapsed.