The sous-chef was not in the café when the fire broke out, but was celebrating 200 meters away in the restaurant where he works for the second year in a row. “We had a few hundred people in the shop, it was one big party.”
That celebration quickly comes to an end when Marc’s colleagues receive a text that a fire has broken out in the bar Le Constellation a little further away. “Everyone knows everyone here, colleagues immediately ran in that direction to help.” At that moment, a fire is raging in the basement of the café, after the ceiling caught fire.
Surreal
The fire spreads very quickly. There are still dozens of, mostly young, partygoers in the basement of the café. The only way out is up the stairs.
When Marc heard about the size of the fire, he ran in that direction himself. The street near the café was already full of emergency services. “I just couldn’t do anything, everything was already cordoned off with ribbons.” At that moment, Marc’s colleagues help people who emerge from the burning café.
The 28-year-old Horinees has to watch passively as the street in front of the café fills with more and more victims. “The whole road was full of screaming people, the screams went through my bones. It was really unreal.”
For Marc, the situation felt almost surreal. “There was smoke everywhere and people with burns. I saw people lying on the street and I don’t know if they are still alive.”
Condition of acquaintances still unknown
Marc and his colleagues also know people who were present in the burning café. They don’t know how they are doing. Many of the victims are still in critical condition in hospital.
Marc’s colleagues who had helped victims at the café were then completely shocked, he says. He himself could not sleep that night. “Every time I closed my eyes, the images flew by.”