A fire that broke out on the second floor of the Oxy Tower, a 15-storey building undergoing extensive renovation near Place de Brouckère, was reported shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. More than 200 workers were on site, according to the Brussels fire brigade. While the initial flames were quickly contained, the fire spread through the elevator shafts, igniting a secondary blaze in an underground level and trapping workers in two lifts.

Two workers were taken to a military hospital with serious burns, and a firefighter was treated at the scene for hyperthermia, medical sources said. After the fire was extinguished, rescue teams gained limited access to one of the two elevator cabins and discovered the bodies of six workers. The Brussels labour prosecutor’s office confirmed late Tuesday that all six workers who had been reported missing earlier in the day were found dead inside a collapsed elevator. A second elevator, a goods lift, had not yet been inspected, but authorities said they did not expect to find additional victims.

Brussels Mayor Philippe Close described the incident as the worst workplace accident in the Belgian capital in two decades. King Philippe and Prime Minister Bart De Wever visited the site in the afternoon, praising the emergency services. The building, originally constructed between 1968 and 1971 as the Centre Monnaie administrative headquarters, was being redeveloped into a mixed-use complex with a hotel, apartments, offices and restaurants. The renovation had been underway since 2023.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. A fire expert has been appointed to examine the scene and determine how the blaze originated and spread into the lift shafts. The labour prosecutor stated there was no indication that any of the workers were employed irregularly. Authorities have not released the identities or nationalities of the victims, though Italian officials said no Italian citizens were among the missing.

As of Tuesday evening, the recovery of the bodies was ongoing, complicated by debris in the elevator shafts. The provisional death toll stood at six, with all missing workers accounted for, according to the prosecutor’s office. The investigation is expected to continue in the coming days.