7 dead in Belgian road accident

Seven people died on a Belgian motorway early Saturday when their car hit the back of a lorry and caught fire, Belga news agency reported.The accident happened at around 2 am (0100 GMT) at Zonhofen near the Dutch border, 80 kilometres east of Brussels, according to the police.Some of the car’s occupants were still conscious when the car caught fire on the motorway emergency lane, Belga reported.The lorry driver and other motorists came to the scene with fire extinguishers before the arrival of the local fire brigade, but the blaze spread rapidly, before the passengers could escape the car.The victims’ identities were initially unknown. The driver of the car is thought to be a Belgian in his twenties.The 57-year-old lorry driver commutes daily between Germany and the port of Antwerp, Belga reported.