Heavy fire waffle factory colors Brussels black

frost - A heavy fire in a waffle factory in Forest produces slightly toxic black clouds over Brussels. Local residents must stay indoors and close windows and doors. Motorists in the area and on the ring road around Brussels are also advised to keep their windows closed and not to ventilate.

Train traffic from Brussels South was severely disrupted, but has resumed, the Belgian railways NMBS report. Also in the trains the windows are not open and the ventilation is off.

The fire broke out in the beginning of the afternoon but is now under control. There were no injuries. The fifty employees of the factory and employees of nearby companies were evacuated, as were approximately two hundred pupils from a neighboring school. The nuisance is mainly caused by the enormous smoke generated by the burnt roofing, according to the fire department.

The fire would have arisen with the cooling system for the ovens, but the correct cause is not yet known.