Baby dies in park as intense storms hit Brussels

Tuesday’s storms prompted 300 call-outs for the Brussels fire brigade and caused the death of a five-month-old infant.

The infant was killed when a tree branch fell on a pram in a park in Uccle. The park was due to close at 17.00 and the mother taking her infant for a walk at 16.00 was caught unawares when the storm broke sooner.

“The baby was taken to St Elizabeth's Hospital but died of his injuries,” Uccle’s mayor told Bruzz.

“The police and the prosecutor's office have launched an investigation, but it is clearly a tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the parents.”

As well as the tragic death, there was significant property damage due to the storm. The Brussels fire brigade carried out 286 interventions, including 46 miscellaneous objects, 22 felled trees and 18 instances of flooding,” spokesperson Walter Derieuw told reporters.

“The municipality of Uccle was hardest hit,” Derieuw said. “Around 200 incidents were pending. These included duplicates and water problems that resolved themselves. At the same time, the day's regular work was also carried out (fire, lift, evacuation of injured people, etc).”

The 200 interventions not yet closed involve flooding, according to Derieuw, who noted that “a large proportion will resolve themselves”.

The storm disrupted train traffic between Brussels-Luxembourg and Etterbeek. Two of the four tracks were blocked because of a fallen tree. Around 23.30 on Tuesday, trains were able to resume normal operation, railway network manager Infrabel said.

The thunderstorm was accompanied by intense rainfall – up to 42 litres of water per square metre in Uccle – and gusts of up to 102 km/h. Code orange was in force until a little past 21.00.

Photo: Hatim Kaghat/Belga