Soldiers shot a suspect in the heart of Brussels after a small explosion at a busy train station Tuesday night continued a week of extremist attacks in the capitals of Europe.
Belgian Army soldiers patrol in front of Central Station in Brussels after a reported explosion on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.
The Brussels prosecutor's office says there appears to be no civilian injuries or deaths from a train station explosion. A police spokesman said it was still unclear if the suspect had died, after other officials had described him as having been killed.
Van der Sypt added that "this incident is considered as a terrorist attack".
A Reuters correspondent at the scene a little over an hour after the incident - in which the man detonated a small explosion - said the area was quiet, with police manning a cordon and a few bystanders calmly watching security forces at work.
Nicolas Van Herrewegen, a station employee, told public broadcaster RTBF that he saw a man shouting in a lower level of the 1930s station, which serves lines running under the city centre.
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"An individual carrying a rucksack and an explosive belt in Central Station has been shot dead", DH quoted the prosecutor as saying. The information could not be immediately confirmed.
The station and main square have been evacuated and police and Belgian military are at the scene.
A witness who was inside the station during the incident said he heard two explosions and then heard someone yell "Allahu Akbar" twice followed by heavy gunfire.
Police said that the situation was under control by 9:30, though did not elaborate on what had caused the chaos.
Rail company spokeswoman Elisa Roux said Tuesday evening that trains were diverted from the station and buses sent out to take passengers to the area.
The Belgian capital, home to the headquarters of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union, has been on high alert since a Brussels-based Islamic State cell launched an attack that killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015.
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