Climbers rescue tourist from bell tower

12 July 2007

BRUGES – The mountaineering team of the Bruges fire brigade rescued a British tourist from the 85 m high Halletoren on Wednesday afternoon. The woman had become unwell. The rescue operation drew a crowd of spectators on the market square.

The mountaineers set up a lift in front of the building, but this did not reach high enough so the woman had to be carried on a stretcher down several flights of stairs.

Bruges recently set up a specialised team to evacuate people in need from great heights or difficult to reach areas. The team has already been called in to assist a wounded crane operator in Zeebrugge and with the evacuation of a psychiatric patient from a crane near the Sint-Jan University Hospital. This was the first time that the team had to assist a rescue from the Halletoren.

“This time we managed to evacuate the woman by stairs,” says team member Dominiek Vandenbroucke. “Otherwise we would have had to lower the victim along the outside of the tower using ropes. We are trained to do that, our training lasts a year.”

There are eight members on the mountaineering team of the Bruges fire brigade.

Subject: Belgian news