Bomb scare in Brussels as man wears winter coat with wires protruding out

Update 12:10 EST: Police now are now calling the incident a false alarm and that the man was only a student.

In Brussels, police were notified of a suspicious man wearing a winter coat with wires protruding out of it. Police are on scene and have the man “under control.” The bomb disposal unit is still on scene. This bomb scare comes just a day before Belgium National Day. More details about the incident have not been made public yet. According to BBC,

 A large police operation is underway near Place de la Monnaie in the centre of the Belgian capital.

The bomb squad is present. Shops nearby have been evacuated and several streets are closed.

Advertisement

Photos from the scene show a man kneeling with his hands up, while police point their guns at him.

Police say that they have the suspect “under control” but have not yet arrested him:

Advertisement

“We got a call about someone acting suspiciously. Someone with a heavy winter coat – in these temperatures it’s very suspicious.

“And there were wires coming out of the coat too,” Christian De Coninck of Brussels police told Belgian TV. “We didn’t take any risks. The person was stopped and kept at a distance.

“We are now waiting for more information from the bomb disposal unit which is at the scene now and then we’ll know more.”

Advertisement

Image courtesy of twitter via Daily Star