Portugal Colonial - Man, 90, suspected of killing two in Belgium nursing home

A third resident, a 94-year-old woman, was also in a critical condition in hospital after the attack in Dentergem, western Belgium, the local prosecutor's office said.

Two men aged 97 and 93 died on the spot after the attacks in separate rooms, it added, saying the suspected attacker has been arrested.

Local mayor Koenraad Degroote told AFP the attacks were carried out with a small knife.

The alleged assailant is accused of killing his 87-year-old wife with a hammer in September 2021, but found mentally unfit to stand trial in a criminal court, Degroote said, confirming Belgian media reports.

"The opinion of the courts was that he should be institutionalised and not in prison. So he was institutionalised in this home," Degroote told AFP.

"The investigation is underway into the circumstances" of the attack, the prosecutor's office said, with a forensic team dispatched to the site.

H.Silva--PC