What exactly went wrong in the drug lab and what role the victims may have played is still being investigated. Three people died. A fourth victim was resuscitated and taken to hospital. Two other victims are also in hospital. This concerns a neighbor and the person who notified the emergency services.
In addition to the police, fire brigade and emergency medical services, the judicial laboratory, the medical examiner and the Clan Lab Response Unit (CRU) of the police also arrived on site, as is usual at a drug lab. This is what Kato Belmans, spokesperson for the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, says. “We have requested an investigating judge for the production of psychotropic substances in association with death.”
The identities of the victims have not yet been released, and the exact cause of death is not yet known.
According to Mayor Marleen Peeters (N-VA), it could have been even worse. “When you hear that it is a drug lab and gases were used, with a gas station next to the building… 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.”
The location of the drug lab would not have been known to be suspicious. The building may have been vacant for some time.
Tags: people died drug lab Poederlee person resuscitated hospital
