Dutchman, 20, stabbed to death during brawl at Antwerp club

A 20-year-old Dutchman was stabbed to death during a brawl outside club Ikon in Antwerp, Belgium, on Sunday morning. A 25-year-old Dutchman got seriously hurt.

The incident happened around closing time at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, Jan Kuyl, the manager of Ikon, told the newspaper AD. Club bouncers had taken two groups of visitors outside for fighting in the club. The bouncers asked them to go home, but they continued their fight further up the street. “There was pushing and pulling, and a knife was also pulled,” Kuyl said.

Bystanders filmed the brawl from several sides, showing kicks and punches thrown and people ending up on the ground. The 20-year-old Dutchman, from Rotterdam according to AD, got stabbed in the side. “He staggered around for a few minutes before he finally collapsed,” Kuyl said. “We called the ambulance, and our security guards helped the emergency services with resuscitation, which took 15 minutes. They then took him to a hospital. This afternoon, we received the news that he had passed away.”

Wouter Bruyns, a spokesperson for the Antwerp police, confirmed the death. “The victims are two young Dutch people, aged 20 and 25. The youngest had to be resuscitated at the scene. Later in the morning, we learned he had died in the hospital. The second victim is seriously injured, but his life is not in danger,” he told the newspaper.

According to the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad, the police have arrested seven men for questioning. “Seven people, including the second man who was injured, have been taken to the station for questioning about their possible involvement in the facts,” Bruyns told the Nieuwsblad. “These are young people in their twenties. The judicial lab was on site for trace evidence investigation into the context and circumstances of these facts.”