Three suspects arrested for manslaughter after man dies in Brussels canal

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a fourth person died in the Brussels-Charleroi canal during a fight last week. The circumstances and cause of the fight are still unclear.

At around 7.30 am on Thursday, four people got into a fight on the Veeweyde quay in Anderlecht and two people fell into the water. One of the two managed to reach the shore safely, but the second, a 34-year-old man, did not. The Brussels fire brigade halted shipping on the canal to search for the man, and at around 10.40 am the news came that a sonar boat had found the victim's remains.

The public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation for manslaughter, and the federal police laboratory arrived on the scene to investigate. The three other people involved in the fight, three men aged 33 and 45, were arrested and questioned. On Friday, they were placed under arrest for manslaughter by the investigating judge.

It is not yet clear how exactly those involved ended up in the water. Nothing is known yet about the cause of the fight either.

^{Rescue operation Brussels fire brigade at the Veeweyde quay in Anderlecht, Brussels © BELGA PHOTO BRANDWEER BRUSSEL DBDMH - POMPIERS BRUXELLES SIAMU}