Two more people taken to hospital after incidents involving three deaths in a drug lab, building owner arrested: “Space had only just been rented” (Lille)

The drug lab was found on Wednesday morning above a pizzeria and a liquor store on the Poederleeseweg, just outside the village center of Poederlee. The location of the drug lab would not have been known to be suspicious, but the building would have been empty for some time, and neighbors say that they generally saw little movement in and around the buildings.

On Wednesday morning, three people were found dead in the building, a fourth victim was resuscitated and then transferred to hospital. A neighbor and the woman who called emergency services were also taken to hospital. Whether the latter was involved in the drug lab in some way is part of the investigation. The condition of the three injured people is currently unclear. No information has yet been released about the identities of the victims, and the exact cause of death is not yet known.

“You can’t think about it”

What exactly went wrong in the drug lab, and what role the victims may have played, is still being investigated. According to Mayor Marleen Peeters (N-VA), it could have been even worse. “When you hear that it is a drug lab where gases were used, with a gas station next to the building…,” it sounds. “You can’t imagine what else an explosion could have caused. We are shocked as a municipal council. I saw the flashing lights this morning, and you immediately think of a serious traffic accident. But we didn’t see this coming.” (Read more below the photo)

The space where the drug lab was located had only just been re-rented. This is what the devastated owner of the building, Kurt, says. His girlfriend was taken to hospital with oxygen poisoning. “The police told us that my girlfriend and I were very lucky. For the same money, we would also have died of oxygen poisoning,” says Kurt.

Rental contract from April 1

Kurt and his girlfriend live on the top floor of the building where the drug lab was discovered in Poederlee on Wednesday morning. “I had already started working at that time. My girlfriend called me in a panic to say that there were many fire brigades and ambulances at the door. Later I was told that she was taken to hospital with oxygen poisoning.”

Kurt owns the building on Poederleeseweg. The space where the drug lab was located had only just been re-rented. “A man came to get the key in mid-March. The lease started to run from April 1. They were supposed to come and sign it this week.” (Read more below the photo)

Neither Kurt nor his girlfriend ever smelled or noticed anything suspicious. “We have never had any problems with the rental to the liquor store and the pizzeria. We also noticed no suspicion among these tenants. We are very shocked by the facts, we did not see this coming at all.”

The circumstances of the tragedy will be further investigated. The public prosecutor’s office has already requested an investigating judge. The facts are provisionally qualified as production of psychotropic substances in combination, resulting in death. In addition to the police, fire brigade and emergency medical services, the forensic laboratory, the medical examiner and the Clan Lab Response Unit of the police arrived on the scene, as is usual at a drug lab.