Brussels explosion – Suspected suicide bomber detonates ‘nail bomb’ at Central Station before being shot dead by troops

The suspect was said to be wearing a rucksack packed with explosives around Belgium's busiest railway station

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AN explosion rocked Brussels’ main train station last night after a suspected suicide bomber triggered his device as he was gunned down by police.

One eyewitness said the bomber had shouted “Allahu akbar” before the device was set off in the Belgian capital’s Central Station.

No one else was injured in the blast as investigators confirmed they believe it to be a terrorist attack.

Twitter/remybonnaffe 23 Brussels Central Station was evacuated amid following an explosion – this unverified picture posted on Twitter purports to show the suspected explosion

AP:Associated Press 23 Police this morning were seen inspecting the spot of the blast in Brussels’ main Central Station

AP:Associated Press 23 Investigators taped off the area of the explosion in the station’s concourse. Commuters were allowed to walk past the scene

AP:Associated Press 23 Police patrol outside the station in Brussels this morning after the explosion last night

Rex Features 23 Soldiers raced to the scene after reports of a small explosion inside the major terminal

Getty Images 23 People are assisted under the cordon as they are evacuated from the station

AP:Associated Press 23 Belgian police stand in front of a police cordon as people are evacuated at the Grand Place square near Central Station

Smoke fills Brussels Central Station after small explosion

AP:Associated Press 23 There was still a heavy police presence at the station this morning following last night's events

Getty Images 23 A soldier stands armed close to the cordon at Brussels Central train station last night

Sudden panic in Grand Place after small explosion in Brussels Central Station

Dramatic pictures emerging overnight showed a fireball engulfing the station's concourse.

Belgian media this morning said the bomber was a 37-year-old man from Molenbeek - a notorious area of Brussels which was home to the terrorists behind the Paris attacks in 2015.

Police have not yet confirmed the identity.

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The suspect was said to have carried two explosive devices inside a suitcase, one of which did not properly detonate.

Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique reports he was also wearing a backpack and bomb belt.

He was "shot several times" by troops after "he triggered a device" shortly after 8pm, according to a source.

Witness Nicolas Van Herrewegen said: "There was a man shouting, and shouting and shouting.

"He was talking about the jihadists and all that and then at some point he shouted: 'Allahu akbar' and blew up the little suitcase he had next to him. People just took off."

One Brit mum-of-three described how she was caught up in the "chaos".

Rozina Spinnoy, 45, from Giffnock, Scotland, told the Daily Record: "Two policemen [came] towards me telling me in French to ‘get out, get out and go up the stairs.’

“Someone said to me it was a bomb and gunfire and I thought ‘oh my god’.

“I’m still in shock. I’m so glad I’m home.”

AP:Associated Press 23 Police officials and soldiers stand alert in a cordoned off area outside Gare Centrale in Brussels

Twitter/Amichai Stein 23 Soldiers can be seen outside the Brussels Central train station after reports a man with an explosives belt was shot by troops

Getty Images 23 A Belgian soldier remains on guard after a terror attack at Brussels Central Station

Getty Images 23 Armed police stand guard after a suspected suicide bomber was shot by soldiers inside the station

Rex Features 23 The station has been sealed off while police carry out an investigation into what they have described as a terrorist incident

AP:Associated Press 23 Belgian Army soldiers patrol near the station after the terrorist incident last night

Prosecutors said the attacker was killed in the confrontation, but his body was left lying inside the station for several hours over fears he could be carrying explosives.

The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said.

He did not comment on eyewitness accounts that the dead man had shouted "Allahu akbar".

Dozens of police cars could be seen outside the station last night as the square outside was evacuated and a cordon put in place.

Passengers reported being told to leave the station and evacuated to a nearby restaurant.

Getty Images 23 Belgium's national crisis centre said the suspect had been "neutralised" and the situation was under control

Getty Images 23 Brussels prosecutor's office said there appeared to be no civilian injuries or deaths from the explosion

Getty Images 23 Passengers being evacuated from the square close to the station, where a suspected suicide bomber detonated a device

Van Herrewegen, a railway sorting agent, also told AFP news agency he had gone down to the station's mezzanine level when he heard someone shouting.

He said: "He cried 'Allahu Akbar', and he blew up a wheeled suitcase.

"I was behind a wall when it exploded.

"I went down and alerted my colleagues to evacuate everyone. He (the suspect) was still around but after that we didn't see him."

He added: "It wasn't exactly a big explosion but the impact was pretty big. People were running away."

Getty Images 23 A police officer sets up a cordon around the station where people had been enjoying their evening

23 Police officers speak on the street outside Belgium's busiest station, which was the scene of a suspected terror attack last night

23 A soldier stands guard close to the scene of the attack, which did not injure anyone else

Heavy army and police presence after troops surround Brussels Central Station after blast

He described the suspect as well-built and tanned with short hair, wearing a white shirt and jeans.

The witness said: "I saw that he had something on him because I could see wires emerging, so it may have been a suicide vest."

After reports of the blast were heard, a witness told RTL: "People are running everywhere."

Another told the broadcaster: "Panic in the Gare Centrale. Shots heard."

Arnaud Reyman, spokesman for Infrabel, the Belgian railway operator, said: "A crowd panicked in the station and ran for the tracks after an incident."

Getty Images 23 Soldiers patrolling the station were able to 'neutralise' the suspect after he reportedly detonated an explosive device

AP:Associated Press 23 Police raced to the scene after reports of a 'small explosion' inside the station on Tuesday night

Police have 'neutralised' a person wearing an explosive belt at Brussels Central Station

The Belgian capital's Grand Place, a major tourist site filled with restaurants and shops, was evacuated along with the station about 200m away.

Brussels has been on high alert since ISIS suicide bombers struck the city's airport and metro in March 2016, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds more.

ISIS claimed the attacks, which were carried out by the same jihadist cell behind the November 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

Soldiers have been deployed at railway stations, government buildings and European Union institutions in Brussels since the aftermath of the Paris attacks when a link to Belgium was first established.

Belgium suffered a further shock last August when a machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu akbar" attacked two policewomen in the industrial town of Charleroi, before being shot dead.

The country's law enforcement agencies and intelligence services came under intense scrutiny for apparently missing a series of leads after the Paris attacks which could have led them to the Brussels bombers.

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