King Albert II visited victims of the biggest industrial disaster in Belgium's recent history on Saturday as rescue workers cleared debris from the site of a gas explosion that killed at least 15 people.
With an entourage of ministers and other government officials, the king tried to bring comfort to burn victims and families grieving the loss of their loved ones in the town 40 km (25 miles) south-west of Brussels.
Described by one witness as a "mini-Hiroshima", the chain of explosions in the industrial zone of Ghislenghien threw massive flames into the air, flattened buildings, hurled bodies hundreds of metres (yards) and set fire to cars and trucks on Friday.
Among the dead were five fire-fighters who were setting up a security cordon at the site of a leaky underground gas pipeline when the blast occurred.
More than 100 others were injured, 35 of them critically, leaving open the possibility of the death toll rising higher.
"The chance of survival is slim," a health ministry official told Reuters.
Shocked by the ferocity of the blast, people crowded the local Red Cross office to donate blood.
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt cut short a holiday and called for a national day of mourning when the dead are buried.
Pascal Picry, who was working in a nearby building when the blast sent the roof crashing down, said he barely got out alive.
"We were under the impression that there was an earthquake," he told local RTBF television, his head and arms in bandages.
"The first reflex that we had was to run (and) it was only when we got out that we started to burn from the heat. We felt our skin coming off," he said.
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