Mortsel 5.63

Mortsel is a city and municipality close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel proper. On January 1, 2006 Mortsel had a total population of 24,427 people. The total area is 7.78 km² which gives a population density of 3,138 inhabitants per km². This is the highest population density of any municipality in the Flemish Region (Flanders), and second-highest (to Saint-Nicolas) outside the Brussels-Capital Region.GeographyThe city consists of the areas Mortsel-Dorp, Oude-God and Luithagen. Mortsel is bordered by Antwerp (districts Wilrijk, Berchem and Deurne), Borsbeek, Boechout, Hove, and Edegem.HistoryMortsel was the scene for one of the major collateral damage tragedies of World War II. On April 5, 1943, the bombing of the Minerva car factory, then used to repair Luftwaffe planes, was the target of a big bombing raid by the Allies. Unfortunately most bombs missed the target and hit a residential area instead, resulting in the deaths of 936 civilians, including 209 children, exceeding the civilian death toll of the Guernica raid which modern estimates put at 400.