A man who detonated a suitcase at Brussels Central Station in a failed terror attack has been identified as a Moroccan national in his 30s, a spokesman for the Belgium prosecutor's office said Wednesday.
"Counter-terrorism police in Belgium are trying to establish the identity of a suspected suicide bomber shot dead by troops in one of Brussels" main train stations.
A bomb squad performed a controlled explosion of a bomb belt and they were checking to see if there were more hazards, according to local reports.
Eric Van der Sypt, Belgium's federal magistrate, said the suspect, identified by his initials O.Z., was not known to investigators for being involved in terror activities but police were aware of him, the New York Times reported.
He said the suspect appeared to be 30 to 35 years old.
The man was shot by soldiers after detonating a small device there late Tuesday in what prosecutors are treating as a "terrorist attack". People standing within three metres of the trolley were unhurt, Herrewegen said.
Belgium's Crisis Center, which monitors security threats in the country, said "soldiers had to neutralize an individual", according to a tweet.
Pictures from the scene showed a small fire had broken out inside the station building.
The man was from the Molenbeek neighborhood, the home and transit point for numerous suspects linked to attacks in Brussels and in Paris in November 2015.
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While Tuesday's attack was foiled by the forces and no one was injured, in an attack that shook the country a year ago in March, 32 civilians had lost their lives and many more were injured.
Prime Minister Charles Michel urged people via Twitter to follow instructions from the authorities.
It was evacuated along with the Belgian capital's Grand Place, a major tourist site about 200 metres away.
Het Laatste Nieuws tabloid newspaper quoted what it said were witnesses saying a man shouted "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic before a small explosion.
"The man then returned to the hall where he rushed to a soldier shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest)". That account could not be independently confirmed.
While police say the situation is "under control", they added that there was a "possibility of a controlled explosion". My colleague thought it was a bomb.
"I went down to the mezzanine level, someone was shouting".
The man then left the burning suitcase and went down to the platform "in pursuit of the station master".
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