Refugee girl fatally shot during Belgian police chase

Belgian prosecutors say a two-year-old Kurdish girl, who died after police chased a van carrying illegal refugees in southern Belgium, was found with a fatal “bullet” wound.

According to reports, the police had fired shots in an attempt to stop the van, which was carrying 30 people of Kurdish origin, after a highway chase between Namur and Maisières, a suburb of the city of Mons.

The child, who was aboard the vehicle, succumbed to her injuries in the ambulance on her way to hospital.

"The autopsy determined that the cause of death was a bullet that entered the cheek," prosecutor Frederic Bariseau in Mons said Friday.

"I want to be careful that the bullet could be of police origin. We have to assess the evidence," he added.

Bariseau further said that an internal police investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the girl's death.

The prosecutor's office initially reported on Thursday that the kid had "not died as a result of the police shooting".

"Tragic event with dramatic consequences. The investigation is ongoing," Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon tweeted on Friday.

Authorities at first evoked a number of possible causes of death, including illness or reckless driving during the chase.

The incident caused a stir on Thursday in the refugee community of Grande-Synthe in France, as the girl was a member of a family currently housed there, according to French authorities.

The Belgium border region near France has become a magnet for refugees, with many heading towards Grande Synthe or Calais to attempt to board trucks and reach the UK.

SS