Police conduct manhunt in Brussels metro tunnels after shooting Anderlecht
The police is since this morning conducting a manhunt in the metro tunnels in Brussels for the suspects of a shooting near metro station Clemenceau in Anderlecht. The shooting is probably linked to the drug scene. Metro traffic in Brussels has been disrupted for hours.
The shooting took place around 6.15 am in the Jorezstraat, near Clemenceau metro station. Footage from surveillance cameras shows two people shooting in the air with an automatic rifle. The shooting in all likelihood had no terrorist motive, but is presumably linked to the drug scene.
“The suspects fled in the direction of the metro station and may still be in the tunnel between the Clemenceau and Zuid/Midi stations,” said police spokesperson Sarah Frederickx. “Brussels Zuid police and federal railway police are searching the area. There were no injuries in the shooting.” Special intervention units of the federal police also arrived at the scene to search the metro tunnels.
Unidentified persons with guns outside the Clemenceau metro station © BELGA VIDEO
Around noon, the police left Clemenceau station, but the search operation is not over yet. The federal judicial police laboratory also arrived at the scene to take traces, along with a ballistics expert. Several bullet casings were found. The new federal interior minister, Bernard Quintin, went to Anderlecht town hall to be informed of the situation.
Due to the incident, the Clemenceau, Delacroix and Zuid/Midi metro stations are closed to the public and there is no metro traffic on lines 2 and 6 between the Troon/Trône and West/Ouest station stops. Trams 4 and 10 are not running between North Station and Churchill, and trams 51 and 82 are interrupted between Anderlechtsepoort/Porte D'Anderlecht and Zuid/Midi Station.
Belgium police secure the area outside the Brussels Clemenceau metro station following a shooting © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
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