Ceremony pays tribute to victims on 20th anniversary of Ghislenghien disaster

30 July 2024

Around 300 people have attended a memorial to the 24 people killed in the Ghislenghien explosion, which occurred exactly 20 years ago.

Tuesday's ceremony was attended by the mayor of Ath, Eddy Maillet, who was head of the local police zone that day, alongside relatives of the victims and a representative of the King. The participants stood in silence in front of the memorial set up not far from the site of the explosion.

The disaster happened when a high-pressure gas pipeline exploded at the Ghislenghien industrial estate, near Ath in Hainaut. The pipeline had been damaged a few days earlier by a machine on a factory construction site. A column of flames, visible from several kilometres around, rose to a height of some 200m and burned for around 20 minutes.

Courage and self-sacrifice

It was one of the deadliest disasters in Belgium’s history, and the worst since the Bois du Cazier mining tragedy in 1956. It killed 24 people, including five firefighters, a police officer, site workers and people driving past the site, with 132 people injured.

A national day of mourning was declared and seven of the victims were given state funerals and posthumously awarded the Civic Cross First Class for acts of courage and self-sacrifice. The families of the other victims preferred a private service.

Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt visited the scene of the tragedy the same day, as did Prince Laurent. The following day, King Albert II visited the area.

On the morning of 30 July 2004, Ath police chief Maillet happened to have his radio on. “That’s how I was immediately aware of the first call from one of the police officers in the area. The message was quite alarmist, about a large gas leak,” he said. “I quickly equipped myself, but a member of staff, who was a firefighter, went to investigate the situation.

“At 8.55, I heard a huge explosion. I didn't make the connection with Ghislenghien, which is 10km from Ath. I thought it was a plane. I radioed the men on the spot and the fire brigade commander, but nobody answered. So I set off with a driver. People were fleeing. You could see the huge fire. Then I found out that people had died.”

Twenty years on, he is still “deeply scarred” by the events of the day. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy,” he said.

The disaster led to the reform of the Belgian civil security system and the creation of local rescue zones to rapidly manage such emergencies in future.