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Albert Verbrugghe

b. 1953

Belgian victim of crime

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About Albert Verbrugghe

Born 1953.

Albert Verbrugghe was a cement factory worker from Belgium whose wife Madeleine, and a female passenger, Aline Van Den Eyke, were shot and killed while driving to Jadotville in their Volkswagen Beetle by Indian UN troops during the Siege of Jadotville, the Congo, on 3 January 1963. A photo of him emerging distraught from his vehicle was printed in world newspapers. The reason for the shooting was never fully established. Time magazine suggested that the soldiers were "nervous". The film was shot by BBC cameraman Ernest Christie.

David Van Reybrouck, a Belgian historian whose father was employed by Nouvelle Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Bas-Congo au Katanga (B.C.K.) and who was an eye-witness to the scene from his apartment window, wrote that the Indian U.N. troops might have mistaken Verbrugghe and his company for "white mercenaries". Only when the dead bodies of the two women and the dog were laid down in the grass besides the road, Verbrugghe seemed to realize what had happened. The dog was left there for a week. The photo was also printed in the Britannica Book of the Year in 1964.

A film by Bruce Baillie, A Hurrah For Soldiers, was dedicated to Verbrugghe.

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Important facts

Born
1953
Birth century

People in Albert Verbrugghe's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Albert Verbrugghe's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Albert Verbrugghe?

Belgian victim of crime

When was Albert Verbrugghe born?

Albert Verbrugghe was born in 1953.

Sources & further reading

Β· Wikipedia: Albert Verbrugghe

Β· Wikidata: Q4711380

Β· DBpedia: Albert Verbrugghe

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Albert Verbrugghe. https://biography.guide/albert-verbrugghe/

MLA: "Albert Verbrugghe." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/albert-verbrugghe/.

Chicago: "Albert Verbrugghe." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/albert-verbrugghe/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 Β· Spot an error? Report a correction.

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