Belgium
09:39 04/03/2021
A Brussels firefighter has been demoted after responding with a racist comment to a colleague's Facebook post late last year in relation to deaths from Covid-19 in communes with a high-density of immigrants.
In October, a member of the Brussels Fire and Emergency Medical Aid Service (Siamu) published a post on his Facebook page, in relation to the figures of the Covid-19 pandemic which read: "Still bizarre that the three municipalities with the most positive cases in Brussels are Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Schaerbeek".
Another firefighter replied: "I know why, and I hope there will be more deaths."
The words of this fireman, who also worked at the time as a paramedic, provoked an outcry in the Brussels political circles. The Socialist leader of the regional deputies Jamal Ikazban and Green Party politician Hicham Tahli led the calls for the secretary of state in charge of Siamu, Pascal Smet and the management of the fire brigade to punish the author.