BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — Several people have been confirmed dead and at least six others remain missing after a massive fire tore through the Oxy Brussels building, a major renovation site in the city's central Place de Brouckère, early Tuesday morning.

Emergency crews are conducting a desperate search of the smoke-logged structure, where the tragedy took a particularly grim turn following the discovery of victims trapped inside an elevator shaft.

The fire broke out on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, on the second floor of the prominent high-rise, which is currently undergoing an extensive, multi-year renovation. At the time the alarm was raised, more than 200 construction workers were actively working inside the building.

While the vast majority of the crew managed to evacuate safely amid scenes of mounting panic, three individuals were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

According to the local fire brigade, firefighters initially contained the blaze on the lower levels relatively quickly. However, intense flames rapidly breached the building's elevator shafts, funneling downward and sparking a secondary, highly destructive fire in the underground floors.

As rescue teams and labor inspectors systematically navigated the heavily damaged building, they made a horrific discovery inside the elevator network.

Brecht Speybrouck, a spokesperson for the local labor inspection service, confirmed the grim finding in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. "We had small access to one of the two elevator cabinets, and there we had a view that there are some corpses of two or three people who died," Speybrouck told reporters. At this stage, authorities have not confirmed whether the bodies found in the elevator represent some or all of the six construction workers currently unaccounted for.

The cause of the initial second-floor blaze remains entirely unknown, and local prosecutors, alongside labor safety investigators, have launched a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.

The disaster has sent shockwaves through Brussels, prompting immediate scrutiny over construction site safety protocols, evacuation routes, and why elevators were operational or occupied during the initial moments of the fire.

Local authorities have cordoned off the central Place de Brouckère as search and recovery operations continue inside the charred interior of the Oxy Tower.