Belgium: an explosion triggers a fire in a Moroccan restaurant near Liège

The fire broke out inside the Moroccan restaurant "El Meida", located on the Route du Condroz in Boncelles, near Liège. The fire occurred around 5:45 pm on Saturday. The flames ravaged several facades, which housed this well-known establishment for its couscous, as well as the wooden structure of the building, reports RTL.be. The assessment shows three injured people were hospitalized. Their lives are not in danger.

Called, the firefighters arrived on the scene. Faced with the extent of the fire, they had to call in civil protection for reinforcement. With two tankers, it helps the firefighters to find the fire hydrant. The fire affected two areas: an apartment and a restaurant. "It really exploded everywhere. [...] I saw the wall fall on my car, we tried to leave through the back with my staff. We don’t think about anything," says Daniel Mondacaburgos, the restaurant manager, present on the scene at the time of the events.

In the aftermath, he went to assist a tenant of one of the upstairs apartments, trapped in her home. Fortunately, the fire broke out before the restaurant opened. A relief for Mondacaburgos. "We had 80 reservations. It would have been catastrophic. We’re really lucky it happened before," he admits. The damage was limited but the restaurant is completely devastated. "It was my baby, there’s no more restaurant, there’s no more building," says a moved Daniel.

The fire was brought under control around 10 pm, says Major Sébastien Babette, director of the fire department and in charge of the intervention.