Emergency numbers and help in Belgium

The numbers

• 112 works from any phone, free, with no credit and no SIM. Operators handle English, and in Brussels also French, Dutch and German.
• 101 is the police number and Belgium keeps it separate from 112. Either will get you help; 101 is faster for a purely police matter.
• The 112 BE app is worth installing. It sends your exact location to the emergency services when you call, which matters if you cannot describe where you are - and Belgian street names come in two languages.

If you need help

• Report a theft to the police and get a written record. No insurer pays without one, and Brussels police stations issue them routinely because they see so many.
• A lost passport means the police first, then your embassy - and given the obligation to carry identity documents, replacing it promptly matters more here than elsewhere.
• Your embassy cannot pay your bills or get you out of jail, but it can issue emergency travel documents and provide lists of lawyers and doctors.

Before you need them

• Save 112 and 101 in your phone now.
• Note your accommodation's address in the local language - the Dutch and French versions of a Brussels street name are different words, and an operator needs one of them.