Photo credit: SkyNews
Belgium has been placed on lock-down after a series of bomb blasts suspected to be terrorist attacks hit the Zaventem Airport and the metro Station in Brussels.
Local media are reporting that two blasts minutes apart went off at the departure area and runway of the airport around 8 a.m local time.
Another explosion went off at the metro station near the European Union headquarters in the country’s capital, Brussel.
The European commission has locked down its staff after the attacks. Kristalina Georgieva, the EU’s vice-president in charge of personnel told staff to stay inside, the Guardian reports.
The newspaper is reporting that at least 13 people have been confirmed dead in the airport attacks believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers while 35 others are said to be in critical condition.
Several people are believed injured by the blast at Maelbeeck metro station, AP reports.
Belgian authorities have raised the security alert to the highest level following the incidents.
The country’s security agencies have been engaged in a series of operations to arrest the perpetrators of the Paris attack of November 13, 2015.
One such operation led to the arrest of an alleged mastermind of the attack, Salah Abdeslam, last week.
“I am shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels. We will do everything we can to help,” tweeted British prime minister, David Cameron.
Thirty minutes later, he added that he had called an emergency security meeting in the event of the bombing in Brussels.
“I will be chairing a COBRA meeting on the events in Brussels later this morning.”
A Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBRA) meeting is often called by the UK government to coordinate instant response to national or regional crisis.
Source: Premium Times
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