Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to the highest level for Brussels and shut the city’s metro system as they warned of a “serious and imminent threat.”
“We have precise information that outlines the risk of an attack similar to the one that unfolded in Paris,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told a press conference yesterday morning in Brussels. “It is a threat based on the theory that it would take place with arms and explosives, maybe even in several places and at the same time.”
People in Brussels should “avoid places where a lot of people come together like concerts, major events, train stations and airports, public transport,” the country’s OCAM national crisis center said on its Web site.
Photo: Reuters
Brussels already canceled a soccer match on Tuesday between the national team and Spain because of security concerns.
The Belgian capital, which houses most of the institutions of the EU, has been on alert since it emerged that at least three of the extremists involved in the attacks in Paris had been living in the city. Salah Abdeslam, the brother of one of the suicide bombers, is still at large.
Authorities late on Friday raised the terror alert for the Brussels region to 4, or “very serious.” The rest of the country remains at level 3. They advised the cancellation of Belgium’s league soccer games yesterday and bolstered the numbers of on-duty police and soldiers.
Photo: Reuters
The Brussels metro is to remain closed until at least this afternoon, Michel said, following a meeting of the national security council. The council is to meet again today to decide on the next steps.
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders said security information indicated that “the threat is precise and imminent,” according to Belga newswire. “We are going to see what steps need to be taken and what we can communicate without disturbing the investigation.”
Belgian prosecutors on Friday charged a third suspect with involvement in the Friday attacks in Paris, following raids in Brussels on Thursday. The three, whose identities have not been disclosed, are being held on terrorism charges, prosecutors said.
The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Society (STIB), which runs public transit in the city, said in a statement on its Web site that it had closed the metro network following advice from the Interior Ministry.
“STIB will decide in consultation with the competent authorities and the police on a day-to-day basis if the stations should re-open,” the company said.
The company said the measures would also affect some trams.
Brussels’ historic main square, the Grand Place, was evacuated Friday morning along with several schools in Belgium as terror scares took hold and police continued their investigations.
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