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Soldiers shoot person in Brussels central train station incident Soldiers shoot person at Brussels Central railway station
(35 minutes later)
Police in Brussels have declared that an incident at the Belgian capital’s central rail station is under control, amid local media reports of an explosion and soldiers having “neutralised” one person. Soldiers “had to neutralise an individual” at one of Brussels’ main railway stations, a Belgian government agency has said, amid reports of an explosion in the area. Police quickly declared the incident under control.
Belgian media reported that Grand Place, a major tourist site, was evacuated, along with the station, which is nearby. Belgian media reported that Grand Place, a major tourist site, was evacuated, along with Brussels Central station, which is nearby.
The local broadcaster, RTL, quoted fire service spokesman Pierre Meys confirming that some kind of an explosion had happened in the city’s central station on Tuesday. Meys could not say what had caused the blast. He could only confirm that firefighters were at the scene. Various media outlets quotedspokespeople for the local fire service and police as confirming that an explosion had happened in Central station on Tuesday. Pierre Meys, of the fire service, could not say what had caused the blast. He could only confirm that firefighters were at the scene.
The city’s police force said on Twitter that the incident involved one individual. The city’s police force said on Twitter that the incident involved one persron and, according to the Reuters news agency, a police spokesman added that there were no casualties, other than the person targeted by the military. According to the Associated Press, the Brussels prosecutor’s office said there appeared to be no civilian injuries or deaths.
Belgium’s national rail operator, the SNCB, said services had been halted by order of the police, while officers referred commuters to the SNCB for more details. There were reports that the person had been wearing an explosive vest but the police spokesman could not say whether that was the case in the immediate aftermath of the incident on Tuesday evening. It was also unclear whether the person, who was reported as having been shot, was still alive.
The station and the adjacent historic downtown area, packed with tourists and locals on a hot summer evening, was partly evacuated as police set up a security cordon, witnesses told Belgian media.
The city has been on high alert for more than 18 months since Brussels-based Islamic State militants carried out attacks in Paris that killed 130 people there in November 2015 then bombed Brussels airport and the city’s metro in March last year.
Reuters quoted the police spokesman as saying: “There was an accident at Central station. There was an explosion around a person. That person was neutralised by the soldiers that were on the scene. At the moment, the police are in numbers at the station and everything is under control.”
In March last year, attacks on Brussels airport and on the city’s metro system, killed 32 people.
Two suicide bombers killed 16 people at Brussels airport, and moments later a suicide bomb at Brussels’ Maelbeek subway station killed another 16, on 22 March.
Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by Isis and several of those involved in the bloodshed were directly linked to the November attacks in Paris, also claimed by Isis, which left 130 dead and were planned in Brussels.
Belgium’s national rail operator, the SNCB, said services had been halted at Brussels Central, Brussels Nord and Brussels Midi by order of the police, while officers referred commuters to the SNCB for more details.