Gas leak found under sinking Lokeren home on former landfill site
Fluvius found a gas leak under a 70-year-old woman's home in Lokeren that has been losing natural gas since February, in a street where houses have sunk for years.
Network operator Fluvius has discovered a gas leak under the home of a 70-year-old woman on Beekstraat in Lokeren, East Flanders. The leak loses about 24 litres of natural gas per hour and has been seeping under her home since February 2026. Fluvius manages the gas and electricity networks in Flanders.
Her home and that of her 69-year-old neighbour have been sinking for years because of a former landfill beneath them. According to Het Nieuwsblad and Gazet van Antwerpen, residents of two houses on Beekstraat first raised the alarm almost ten years ago that their homes were at risk of sinking. The two papers report that there is still no solution in sight.
A second gas problem
Het Nieuwsblad and Gazet van Antwerpen also report that a gas leak about two weeks ago, around 14 October, nearly caused a disaster. They say a resident described going a week without heating or hot water.
HLN reports that the woman was lucky the leak did not lead to an explosion. According to HLN, the cost of the lost gas will also be charged to her.
Residents' frustration
HLN quotes a resident as saying that insurance only steps in once the house explodes.
No next steps or solutions have been reported for the residents of Beekstraat.
Original reporting
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How this article was made
BelgiumNow summarises reporting by Belgian media in English. This text was written with the help of AI from the facts in the reports listed above and checked automatically before publishing. For the full story, read the original reporting.