Terrorist Attack Foiled in Brussels: Authorities

Suspect shot after explosion at Brussels train station
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 20, 2017 5:24 PM CDT
Suspect Shot After Explosion at Brussels Train Station
Police patrol in front of Central Station in Brussels after a reported explosion on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. Belgian media are reporting that explosion-like noises have been heard at a Brussels train station, prompting the evacuation of a main square.    (Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Soldiers shot a suspect in the heart of Brussels after a small explosion at a busy train station Tuesday night, the AP reports. A bomb squad performed a controlled explosion of a bomb belt the suspect had at the Central Station and established a wide perimeter near the city's famed Grand Place square while checking to see if there were more hazards. It appeared no one else was injured besides the suspect and the damage from the explosion was limited. It's unclear if the suspect survived. Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said authorities are treating the incident "as a terrorist attack" that was foiled when the suspect was "neutralized."

An employee for Belgium's national rail company said the male suspect was very agitated, yelling about jihadists and then "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before blowing up something on a baggage trolley. The government agency that owns Belgium's railways was warned by a train driver who saw people running across the rail lines inside the station, a spokesperson said. National newspaper La Libre Belgique quoted the prosecutor's office as saying the suspect was wearing a backpack and an explosive belt. Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people on the Brussels subway and at an airport in March 2016. (More Brussels stories.)

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