Two homeless people found dead as temperatures drop

As temperatures dropped drastically over the last few days, two homeless people in Brussels have found dead from hypothermia. One woman was found on Monday morning in Laken, while another was found this morning in Brussels-City.

The 41-year-old found on Monday morning died in hospital after being transported by police. The 55-year-old woman of this morning was reported to police by residents who found her unresponsive on the Au Pigeon Soldat monument at the edge of the Plaine de Jeux Quai A la Houille park (pictured). She had died sometime in the night.

Additional shelters that operate during the winter are not due to open until 15 November. The office of Brussels minister Pascal Smet reported that the 500 spaces available year-long in the capital are not full, and so far no one has been turned away.

While there are some 500 beds available around the capital all year longer, another 1,000 will open up in phases this winter. And there are some 200 more reserve beds for extreme weather conditions.

The mercury dipped to 1°C in the early hours of Sunday morning. But the first snowfall in Belgium this winter happened this morning in Wallonia. Parts of Namur, Hainaut and Luxembourg provinces saw snow, which reached eight centimetres in the little village of Dourbes in the far south of Namur province.

Photo: Ilse Detele/BELGA