“I couldn’t sleep all night, the images haunt me”

Human remains were discovered on Friday evening in the basement of an apartment building in the Antwerp district of Deurne.

The human bust was discovered by a group of friends, young men in their twenties. One of them testifies: “I couldn’t sleep all night. The images of this suitcase and what it contained haunt me,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.

His friend, who lived in the apartment where the suitcase was discovered, wanted to take old things down to the basement: “As he had never been there, we accompanied him,” he says. That’s when they spotted the suitcase: “The suitcase stood out, because it was a little in the way. And we smelled a strange smell. We were curious what was inside, so my friend opened it. He was startled and jumped back because he saw blood and human flesh.”

Police were called to the scene and a security perimeter was quickly set up around the area where the body was found. Searches were carried out to find the rest of the body.

Residents have been complaining for some time that storage sheds and garage boxes are stuffed with rubbish and waste… With enormous odor nuisance. According to neighbors, homeless people and drug addicts often congregate in the basement where the body remains were found. Prostitutes also work in the apartments above.

The building would have had a bad reputation for years. A few years ago, weapons, Kalashnikov type, were found in the same place as part of an investigation against drug trafficking. In 2010, an impressive stock of fireworks was discovered that could have blown up the building.