Zingem –
In the night of Saturday to Sunday, a 35-year-old man was killed in a fire in an apartment on the Ouwegemsesteenweg in Zingem. The first findings indicate an accidental fire.
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The emergency services were alerted on Sunday morning around 0:30 am for a fire in an apartment at the intersection of the Ouwegemsesteenweg with the N60 regional road in the Zemem district of Kruisem. That is at the so-called intersection ‘t Peerdeke. It was a neighbor who sounded the alarm after the fire alarm had been triggered on the second floor and smoke and a burning smell were observed.
Immediately there were also strong suspicions that the occupant of the apartment, a single man of 35 years old, was still inside. Awaiting the arrival of the emergency services, the man did not wake up.
Windows cracked
The fire stations of Oudenaarde and Gavere came on the spot together with the medical services and the local police. “Flames were visible on the second floor of the apartment. The living room was almost ablaze, ”says captain Luc Vande Fonteyne of the Oudenaarde fire station.
“Smoke was also coming from the apartment, and the heat had already cracked the front windows. It was just not a blazing fire. We attacked the fire from the outside and from the inside at the same time. ”
Fire expert
During the extinguishing work, the resident in the apartment was found lifeless. The victim was next to a seat, help could no longer help. The fire brigade was able to prevent adjacent apartments from being damaged by fire. There was some smoke damage.
The public prosecutor’s office of East Flanders, department Oudenaarde, asked a fire expert to investigate the exact cause of the fire. The first findings show that there is no suspicion of malicious intent and that everything points in the direction of an accidental fire.
Together with a fire expert, the public prosecutor’s office has also appointed a law doctor. The investigation is still ongoing.
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