A rescue intervention on Avenue Jean Volders in Saint-Gilles went very badly on New Year’s Eve. Firefighters and paramedics took care of a person who had fallen from a balcony on the fourth floor of a building.
The spokesperson for the Brussels rescue zone relayed to us the testimony of a firefighter who intervened on the scene. “My buddy and I are the first on the spot. I can’t even describe the scene to you, it was so horrible!” Starts by telling this man of the fire, who preferred to remain anonymous.
The firefighters then begin a cardiac massage. Around them, the man on fire explains that he sees the victim’s companion, his friends, his neighbors, but also a lot of blood. After a few minutes, an SMUR arrives, then a second ambulance and the police. “After 45 minutes of teamwork, the doctor unfortunately had to face the facts: the person died,” said the firefighter.
In the midst of the tragedy, a deluge of projectiles fell on the rescuers. “The doctor has not even been able to announce the death to the family yet that we receive several projectiles, glass bottles and stones, followed by shots of fireworks which explode next to us” with “the victim still on the ground, barely covered with a white sheet a few seconds before“.
Faced with these acts of violence, the firefighters and paramedics fled. “I had a great feeling of disgust! And at the same time embarrassed and sad for the family! Imagine the scene: the body of a member of your family who has just fallen to his death, who is still on the ground and the rescuers who are stoned and shot at with mortars and who have to run to protect themselves“, confides the firefighter. Today, he hopes that this account of the facts “make some people think“.
Hundreds of interventions
Brussels firefighters recorded 700 interventions on New Year’s Eve, twice as many as under normal circumstances, a spokesperson said on Sunday. It involved 200 firefighters and 500 ambulances. The men of the fire have also been the target of fireworks and projectiles on several occasions. In some places, they had to abandon their equipment.
In the course of the night, the firefighters intervened regarding twenty times for electric scooters on fire, 24 times for trees or vegetation on fire, 57 times for waste or pallets on fire and three times for containers. of burnt waste.
Three bicycles, 26 cars, six mopeds and a football field were also in flames, finally brought under control by firefighters. The Brussels Capital-Ixelles police were also targeted by projectiles during the night of New Year’s Eve.
