Brussels memorial honours six workers killed in OXY building fire
Trade union delegations and colleagues gathered outside the OXY construction site in central Brussels to honour the six workers killed in the 14 July fire, as investigators continued examining the disaster.
In 30 seconds
- About 100 people attended the union-organised memorial at the OXY site, according to BX1.
- Six workers died after the fire at the Brussels construction site on 14 July 2026.
- Around 250 workers were present when the fire began, according to BX1 and BRUZZ.
- Five victims were Belgian and one was Romanian, BRUZZ reported.
Updated 25 August 2026, 16:30 CEST — About 100 relatives, colleagues and trade union representatives gathered outside the OXY building at Place De Brouckère in at 11:00 on Friday 17 July to commemorate the six workers killed in a fire three days earlier. BX1 reported that organisers laid wreaths at the site before CSC secretary-general Marie-Hélène Ska and FGTB president Bert Engelaar addressed those present.
The ceremony brought together workers from the construction and metalworking sectors. BRUZZ reported that Brussels mayor Philippe Close and employees of technical-services company SPIE, which employed one of the victims, also visited the site. The unions’ message was that every employee who leaves for work should return home safely. The ABVV’s General Union said before the commemoration that the pain extended far beyond Brussels and called for a thorough investigation conducted without speculation.
The fire broke out on the morning of 14 July while about 250 people were working on the renovation project, according to BX1 and BRUZZ. Emergency teams recovered the six victims from a lift after the site was evacuated. BRUZZ reported that five victims were Belgian and one was Romanian; four worked for Alken-based On Time Metalworks, while a 23-year-old Brussels resident worked for SPIE. Two other workers suffered severe burns, according to BX1’s reporting immediately after the fire.
The Brussels labour auditorate is investigating the fire and the lift failure. BRUZZ reported on 14 August that the precise cause remained unknown one month after the disaster, that the inquiry was still active and that the construction site remained closed. Investigators had established that a lift cable was damaged, but the auditorate had not determined the full sequence of events or whether workplace-welfare rules were respected.
The memorial therefore marked both a moment of mourning and the beginning of a longer search for answers. For the families and companies affected, the loss reaches from Brussels to and Romania. The next decisive development will come from the labour auditorate’s technical findings; no publication date for those conclusions has been announced.
Where this is happening
View on map Brussels →What to do
People working on or managing Belgian construction sites should follow any findings or safety measures issued after the labour auditorate completes its investigation, particularly concerning fire evacuation and lift use during emergencies. Workers with concerns about evacuation procedures should raise them with their employer, site safety representative or trade union rather than wait for the final report. Readers should treat the cause as unresolved: as of 14 August 2026, investigators had not determined what started the fire or established publicly why the lift failed.
Impact
Regional — The tragedy directly connects Brussels, where the fire occurred, with Limburg, where four victims’ employer On Time Metalworks is based. One victim lived in Brussels, and another was Romanian.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsTrade unions and workers
CSC and FGTB representatives framed the deaths as an unacceptable loss of workers who should have returned safely to their families. Their public emphasis is on remembrance, solidarity and the need to draw workplace-safety lessons from the disaster.
Labour investigators
The Brussels labour auditorate has avoided assigning responsibility while technical work continues. Its inquiry is reconstructing the fire and lift failure and examining compliance with workplace-welfare law before reaching conclusions.
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