19 August 2009 - Deadly fires in Belgium and The Netherlands

On 18 August, four children died in a fire in their home in the Dutch town of Kampen. The fire started in the middle of the night and the four boys, aged one, four, six and eight, could not escape. Their parents and sisters did manage to leave the house safely.

Previously, nine elderly people were killed in another fire at a retirement home in the town of Melle (Belgium) on 6 August. While the cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed, it appeared to have been caused by a fault in an electric fan or a television which set a mattress ablaze.