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15 people held hostage in supermarket in Brussels suburb – police Police capture man who held 15 hostage in Belgian supermarket – reports
(35 minutes later)
An armed man took about 15 people hostage in a supermarket in the Forest suburb of Brussels, police has reported. Local media claimed the situation arose after an attempted robbery went wrong. The armed attacker, who took people hostage in a supermarket in the Forest suburb of Brussels, has given himself up to the police, local television channel VRT has reported.
Eyewitnesses told VRT, a local TV channel, that the hostage-taking unfolded at around 7 p.m. local time, inside a Carrefour supermarket, and claimed the perpetrator was carrying a knife. Eyewitnesses told the channel that the hostage-taking unfolded at about 7 p.m. local time, in a Carrefour chain store, after what they claimed was a robbery attempt gone wrong. Those who managed to leave the supermarket said the suspect was armed with a knife, and forced shoppers to lie down on the floor.
Minutes later, a police helicopter was hovering above the store, as special armed units were sent to the scene. The area was quickly sealed off, and a special team, supported by a helicopter, was sent to disarm the suspect.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW Within minutes, the man, who appeared to have issued no demands, was apprehended.
While there has been no suggestion that the hostage-taking was a terrorist attack, police and residents in the Belgian capital have been on high alert over potential incidents in public places, following a deadly airport and train station bombing in the city in March this year.
At dawn on Tuesday, security forces raided 15 houses across the country, taking four men into custody, who now face charges of abetting radical Islamist organizations.