Death toll rises to 9 in Begium apartment building collapse as 2 more bodies found

Death toll at 9 after Belgium building collapse

LIEGE, Belgium — The death toll from the explosion and collapse of a crowded apartment building rose to nine overnight with two more bodies recovered from the rubble before the search was interrupted, officials said Thursday.

An apparent gas explosion gutted the five-story apartment building on Wednesday. An additional 21 people were injured, two of them seriously.

Police officer Alain De Paepe said the search for more bodies had to be interrupted early Thursday because of fears that adjacent buildings would collapse onto the debris from the century-old building, which is in a poor neighborhood that is home to many students and immigrants.

Rescue workers dug through most of the night before postponing the search. “So now we have nine bodies,” De Paepe said.

The building had only 14 registered residents.

Smoke and small fires hampered searching Wednesday when there was still hope victims might be alive under the rubble. By Thursday morning that hope had largely evaporated and firefighters were reinforcing adjacent building for fear they would collapse onto the rescue workers.