Man arrested in Brussels after security alert at major shopping centre

Brussels: Belgian authorities took a man into custody following a pre-dawn security alert at a major shopping centre in downtown Brussels early on Tuesday. The security operation followed an alert about a suspicious package. [caption id=“attachment_2841764” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] Brussels prosecutors confirmed that a man had been taken into custody, but that no explosives were found at the City 2 shopping center. “He is being questioned at the moment,” said Ine Van Wymersch, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors’ office. “There were no explosives.” Amid the alert, Prime Minister Charles Michel changed his morning programme and a meeting of the Belgian crisis center was called. Police in hoods and military wearing helmets were seen patrolling around at least one major entry to the City 2 shopping center. Police cars were on the scene and the demining squad was also called in. Some entries to the subway station were also blocked. City 2 spokeswoman Veronique Pirson said police said “a package had been found right next to City 2.” Belgium has been living under a threat level which says an attack is possible and likely since the November attacks in Paris, some of whose perpetrators were either Belgian nationals or had lived in Brussels. On 22 March, attacks on the Brussels subway and airport killed 32.