Brussels is in lockdown after explosions at an airport and metro station, with reports of multiple casualties.
Two explosions struck Zaventem airport and a separate blast hit a metro station near European Union buildings in the Belgian capital shortly after.
Belgian media reported that as many as 13 people were killed at the airport, with 35 injured, and 10 killed at the metro station. These tolls have not been confirmed by police.
The Belgian prosecutor confirmed that the airport explosions were caused by a suicide attack. All flights were cancelled, arriving planes were being diverted and Belgium’s terror alert was raised to its maximum level. Security was also tightened at all Paris airports.
The explosions took place in the departure hall at about 8am local time. TV pictures showed people fleeing the terminal, while smoke billowed from the roof of the building. A false ceiling collapsed, causing lots of dust and smoke. The airport has been closed and people advised not to travel to the area.
One witness, Gil Durand, told Le Soir that the first explosion occurred in the departure lounge, followed by another a few seconds later. “The ambulances arrived slowly, people were evacuated, there was a lot of smoke,” she said. She added that many of the injured were wearing the uniforms of Brussels airport and Brussels Airlines.
Controls have been stepped up at Charleroi airport, about 46km south of Brussels.
Rescue workers set up a makeshift treatment centre in a local pub near the entrance to the Maelbeek metro station, not far from the headquarters of the European Union.
Dazed and shocked commuters streamed from the metro entrances as police tried to set up a security cordon.
“The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there was a really loud explosion,” Alexandre Brans, 32, told AP, wiping blood from his face. “It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro.”
International travel security measures were stepped up, with French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve announcing an extra 1,600 police and gendarmes to be deployed at borders, and air, sea and rail hubs.
Cazeneueve was speaking after an emergency defence meeting at the Elysée. Britain also called a meeting of its crisis response committee, and London’s major airports said they were working to provide a high police presence. The Dutch military said it was strengthening security at airports and borders.
European security officials have been braced for a major attack for weeks, and warned that Islamic State was actively preparing. The arrest of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam in Brussels last week heightened those fears. Investigators said many people involved in the November attacks that killed 130 people were still on the loose.
After Abdeslam was arrested, Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders said authorities learned he had created a new network around him and had access to several weapons, though there was no immediate indication that he or the Islamic State group had any involvement in Tuesday’s attacks.
Responding to Tuesday’s events, European council president Donald Tusk said the attacks “marked another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence”.
