Brussels: Blasts reported at Schuman, Maalbeek metro stations near EU offices
A
blast has been reported at the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels,
which is just meters away from the Gare de Bruxelles-Schuman railway
station. The explosion comes less than an hour after a bombing at a
Brussels airport killed at least 17 people.
Large
amounts of smoke have been seen coming out of the metro station in
the Belgian capital. Brussels’ transport authority says all
metro stations in the city are being closed, Reuters reports.
#Schuman metro station in brussels closed
The
Maalbeek station is also near a number of important EU buildings such
as Berlaymont building, which houses the EU Commission and the
Council of the European Union.
Lot of commotion outside of Schuman metro station. Hope everybody is OK.
Belgian
authorities have raised the security alert to the highest level
following blasts at the Zaventem Airport and Maalbeek Metro station.
Just arrived at Schuman station after walking on the tracks.
RT,
22
March, 2016
17
people have reportedly been killed and dozens wounded after two
blasts rocked Brussels’ Zaventem airport.
Brussels
police have told Sputnik that Zaventem’s great hall was targeted in
the blast, but they couldn’t confirm the number of the victims in
the attack.
“There
was an explosion, but we cannot say more," a police spokesperson
said.
Reports
also suggest that first there was a shot fired in the departure hall,
then something was called out in Arabic, and only afterward, two
explosions rocked the facility.
Reports
are coming in that one of the explosions took place near the American
Airlines check-in desk. A government source confirmed to VRT
broadcaster that it was an attack, while Anke Fransen, spokeswoman
for Brussels Airport, said there were multiple injuries. "We can
confirm that there have been two explosions in the departure hall. We
called the emergency services on the ground – they [are] now
provid[ing] first aid to the injured."
Niels
Caignau, flight watcher at Swissport, told Radio 1 that he heard an
explosion at around 8:00 a.m. local time.
"The
windows outside the departure hall are completely shattered. Many
people have run out with tears in [their] eyes. We were advised to
stay indoors."
Other explosive devices have been discovered at the airport, RTBF correspondent Laurent Henrard cited firefighters as saying.
Rail
traffic to the airport has been suspended, Reuters reports
.
.
Belgian
media say there are several injured people in the Brussels Airport
departure hall and rail traffic to the airport has been suspended.
#inBELS | Harde knal op vliegveld #Brussel Airport (Zaventem), schade te zien, meer info ontbreekt (pic:@tine_10e)
No planes are landing at Brussels Airport which is in lockdown, and planes are being diverted to Antwerp. Planes are circling over the city of Liege.
Sky
News Middle East correspondent Alex Rossi, who was at the airport en
route to Tel Aviv, has tweeted that he could "feel the buildings
move."
After reports of an explosion at Brussels airport flights are holding with no arrivals https://planefinder.net/airport/BRU
At
least one blast reportedly occurred in the airport’s departure
hall.
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