Rail services at Brussels North Station were suspended for around 2 hours on Wednesday evening after a suspicious package caused the evacuation of the station at around 7pm. The Acting Mayor of Schaarbeek, the municipality in which (part of) the station is located Martin de Brabant (Francophone liberal) confirms that one person has been arrested in connection with Wednesday evening’s incident.
Frédéric Sacré of the rail infrastructure management company Infrabel told journalists that “A suspicious bag was found in the station. The station was evacuated and we asked to let any more trains into the station. The NMBS confirms that all rail traffic between Brussels North and Brussels South stations was suspended as a safety precaution. Some trains were diverted, for example to Schaarbeek station.
The Brussels public transport company MIVB reported major disruptions on several of its tram routes such as routes 4, 10 and 55 that use the underground tram tunnel and underground tram stop adjacent to the railway station. By around 9pm service gradually started to return to normal.
“When it was inspected, the suspicious package was found to contain batteries, wires and solar panels” An Berger of the Federal Police said. No explosives were found.
The Acting Mayor of Schaarbeek Martin de Brabant says that the person to whom the bag belonged has been arrested. He has since been released.
Rail services resumed from around 9pm.