Breakdown of the Switel hotel
The Switel Hotel was a hotel located at Antwerp's Kievit Square. The hotel became world news by a big fire on New Year's Eve 1994.
At about 22.50, a big fire broke out in the Tenerife party hall because two Christmas trees standing too close to eight burning candles flared. There was a fireball and a heat wave spreading through the room quickly. In the hall there were balloons filled with helium, initially thought to lay on the base of the inferno, but although the balloons did explode, they were not the cause of the fireball, because Helium is not flammable.
At the time, 15 people were killed and 164 were injured. Lee Towers was one of the guests at the party. He managed to escape unharmed, but his wife ran out of burns. Also the then Belgian Miss Diamond and presenter Sandra Van den Broeck and Jessica Granata, the daughter of Belgian singer Rocco Granata, were injured.
Luk Serré, the catering manager who organized the party at the hotel, was charged alone. However, six years later, on October 7, 2000, he was still exempt from prosecution. In December 2009 a book of his hand appeared with his view on the fire and subsequent research. According to Serré, the investigation was rushed and careless. Also, the director and security officer of the hotel would be held out of action by alleged ties with the court.
The fire in the Switel hotel changed the rules regarding organizing events in Belgium. Every organizer has since been required to close fire insurance in advance.
The disaster in the Switel hotel has also been the basis of the fireworks ban in Antwerp.
After the disaster, the Switel hotel was renamed Queens International Hotel, but it did not make any difference. In October 2003, the Antwerp City Council issued a license to proceed to the hotel's demolition, which took place in February 2004. Literature
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