Brussels shopping centre in lockdown after man held with ‘fake suicide vest’

A man wearing a “fake” suicide vest has been arrested during an anti-terror operation at a shopping centre in Brussels. Authorities sealed off the streets around the City2 shopping centre after the suspect was seen acting suspiciously early today. Police cars were at the scene and the bomb squad was also called in. Some entrances to a nearby metro station were blocked off. The man was taken into custody as Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel held an emergency national security meeting to discuss the operation. The Brussels prosecutor’s office later confirmed no explosives were located at the shopping centre.

No bomb has so far been found. The suicide vest found on a suspect was fake.

Spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor

Belgium has been living under a heightened terror threat level since the November terror attacks in Paris. Some of the perpetrators of the attacks were either Belgian nationals or had lived in Brussels. Thirty-two people were also killed on 22 March in attacks on the Brussels metro and airport.

Brussels bomb