Authorities looking for 6 missing in a Brussels building fire find charred bodies in a lift

BRUSSELS (AP) — A fire broke out Tuesday at a building being renovated in downtown Brussels, injuring two people and leaving six missing. Authorities in the Belgian capital said that a number of charred bodies had been found in an elevator at the site.

The fire started on the second floor of the building in a main shopping area, and the flames spread into a lift shaft, said Brecht Speybrouck, a spokesman for the Labor Audit Office.

Speybrouck said 250 workers at the site were evacuated, two were taken to a hospital with severe burns and six were missing. He said charred bodies were found in one of the elevators, but did not give a number and could not clarify whether they included any of the missing.

First responders struggled to get to the lift shaft. Brussels mayor Philippe Close told The Associated Press that thermal cameras and sniffer dogs were used to try to find the victims.

He said that “firefighters, rescue workers and police were there immediately. Everyone knew what they had to do and that probably helped to avoid a greater tragedy.”

Belgium's King Phillipe toured the site several hours later.

Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said he was “shocked” by the incident.

“My thoughts go out to the victims, their loved ones, and everyone still in uncertainty,” Quintin said in a post on social media. “A sincere thank you to our fire department and all emergency services for their dedication.”

The Oxy Building complex in the center of Brussels, where a fire broke out on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Emergency workers on site during a fire at a building complex in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Emergency workers on site during a fire at a building complex in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Belgium's King Philippe, second left, and Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, left, thank emergency workers on the scene after a fire at a building complex in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

Emergency and forensic workers on site during a fire at a building complex in the center of Brussels, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marius Burgelman)

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S.-Russian space crew blasted off successfully Tuesday on a mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian crewmates Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 for an eight-month stint on the orbiting outpost. They are set to dock at the station three hours after the launch.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, the first visit to Baikonur by a NASA chief in eight years that highlighted the ongoing cooperation in orbit between Moscow and Washington despite tensions over Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Speaking during Monday’s meeting with the crew, Isaacman thanked Russia's state space corporation, Roscosmos, for its efforts to prepare for the mission, saying that “the integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved.”

Isaacman also met with Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov before Tuesday's launch.

The mission is Menon’s first space flight and the second for Dubrov and Kikina.

The trio will join NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev.

Once bitter rivals in the space race during the Cold War, Russia and the U.S. cooperate on the space station and other projects. That relationship was marred by tensions after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, but Washington and Moscow have continued to work together, with U.S. and Russian crews flying to the orbiting outpost on each country’s spacecraft.

Plans for broader cooperation, including possible Russian involvement in NASA’s Artemis program of lunar research, have fallen apart. As Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for its energy exports and imports of key technology amid Western sanctions, Roscosmos has started cooperation with China on its prospective lunar mission.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Saturday, July 11, 2026, at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

The Soyuz rocket is raised into position at the Site 31 launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Bill Ingalls