11-year-old girl killed, autopsy revelation

The autopsy of the body of the 11-year-old girl killed during a shooting in Merksem Monday night revealed that the victim had been shot to death by bullets, the Antwerp prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

It was initially thought that the girl had not been hit directly by a bullet, but had died from the explosion of a microwave oven hit by a bullet. According to autopsy results, it appears that the victim was finally hit by bullets.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation and are looking into the possibility of a drug connection. No suspects have yet been arrested.

“Don’t let this become the new normal.”

Antwerp prosecutor Franky De Keyzer also reacted to the tragedy for the first time on Tuesday. “We will not allow this to become the new normal,” he said. “This cannot and must not go unpunished.”

Mr. De Keyzer says the prosecution had warned “repeatedly” that there would be a day of the dead in drug attacks. So now those fears have become real. “What happened last night in Merksem is the most horrific scenario we can imagine,” says De Keyzer.

The prosecutor assures that the prosecutor’s office, the investigating judge, the federal judicial police, and the local Antwerp police are doing everything they can to find and prosecute the perpetrators of these acts.