The Great Mosque of Brussels is evacuated and 11 people decontaminated Thursday after the discovery of a suspicious package containing white powder as the EU capital remained on highest possible terror alert.
“A parcel was found at the entrance to the mosque and found to contain white powder. We are taking all preventative measures in case it is anthrax but it is a precautionary measure,” says fire services spokeswomen Anne Wibin, who was at the scene.
The mosque, the city’s biggest, is located just a few blocks from the major EU institutions and many embassies.
Belgium has been under a heavy security clampdown in the wake of the Paris attacks on November 13 with two Belgium-linked suspects still on the run.
Wibin says eleven people, including two police offers, were being decontaminated as precautionary measure.
“There is absolutely no danger to anyone,” she says.
— AFP
A picture taken on November 26, 2015 shows ambulances, police and fire fighter vehicles outside the mosque after a suspect letter with powder was found at the Great Mosque in Brussels on November 26, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / BELGA / ERIC LALMAND)
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