Belgian police sealed off part of a Brussels suburb Thursday and searched two apartments, warning residents to stay inside following witness reports that an armed man could be at large.
The area in the Forest neighbourhood was reopened after about three hours and police spokeswoman Kathleen Calie later confirmed the incident was not terror-related.
During the search, Associated Press television images showed armed police officers hiding behind buildings and staking out a rooftop.
Masked police, some with automatic weapons, were aiming their guns high at a building near the Place Saint-Denis. A police helicopter flew overhead.
The incident began after a Polish man reported what he said was a murder, Ms Calie said. When police arrived at the address they found nothing. “It seems he may have expressed himself badly,” Ms Calie said.
But witnesses there said that an incident had happened at a nearby building and they reported seeing an armed man, so officers from Belgium’s special federal police force were called in, she said.
“We can rule out terrorism,” Ms Calie said.
Earlier, broadcaster RTL quoted Forest mayor Marc-Jean Ghyssels as saying that police “suspect the presence of an armed man.” The area was sealed off at around 12:15pm (3.15pm GST) and people were warned to stay in their homes.
A suspect in the deadly Paris attacks in November 2015, Salah Abdeslam, hid in Forest and was caught up in a shootout with police in a nearby apartment.
Belgium recently lowered its threat level after almost two years on high alert. In March 2016 suicide bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and an underground station killed 32 people.
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
RESULTS
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Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
Austrian Grand Prix race timings
Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE
Friday
Noon-1.30pm First practice
4-5.30pm Second practice
Saturday
1-2pm Final practice
4pm Qualifying
Sunday
4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.