Some of the empty houses in Doel, a village that has been abandoned by many residents since the late 1970s. — Photos: FRANCOIS WALSCHAERTS/AFP
Doel has a reputation as Belgium’s best-known ghost town. But its few inhabitants – today numbering just 21 – now see a glimmer of hope of their village bouncing back to life.
If it does, it would be a remarkable change of fortune for a place that has been steadily emptying out since the late 1970s when its population was 60 times bigger, leaving behind silent streets of crumbling, sealed-up homes covered in graffiti.
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