Brussels attacker appeared to have Islamic State sympathies

An explosion at a train station in Brussels, Belgium, today, that prompted the station to be evacuated but left no victims injured, is considered a terrorist attack, according to the Belgian federal prosecutor's office.

No further threat was imminent and the alert level was unchanged.A security source named the dead man, identified officially only by the initials O.Z., as Oussama Zariouh. -Jean area of Brussels, where his home was searched overnight, Van Der Sypt said.

Zariouh, 36, had targeted a group of people standing by a train announcement board on Monday night but his suitcase bomb, packed with nails and gas canisters, failed to properly explode. Still unsure whether it was an attack, he took time to take a photo but dashed off when he heard a second blast and shots.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said the man entered the Brussels Central Station at 8:39 pm on Tuesday and joined a group of passengers in the underground part of the station.

Investigators found chemical substances and materials that could be used to make explosives and concluded that he probably made the bomb there. "It is clear that he wanted to cause more damage than he did".

Soldiers have been stationed at railway stations, government buildings and European Union institutions in Brussels since the aftermath of the Paris attacks when a link to Belgium was first established.

The suspect, from the largely immigrant Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek which has been linked to a number of previous attacks, was known to police for drug offences but not terrorism.

"We have avoided an attack that could have been a great deal worse", the Prime Minister said.

"In three years we have been confronted with several attacks or attempts and we say the zero risk does not exist", Prime Minister Charles Michel said after a specially-convened security meeting.

Early analysis of what remains of the device suggests the explosive did not detonate but simply burned, the official said.

Security remained high around rail facilities and preparations were underway to beef up security for a Coldplay concert at the 50,000-seat King Baudouin Stadium later Wednesday. He lay still for several hours while a bomb squad checked whether he was carrying more explosives and later died.

At 8:44 pm he grabbed his suitcase and, shouting, set off a partial explosion which hurt no one but caused the suitcase to catch fire. It reopened to travelers Wednesday morning. A police command auto and several officers were still at the station, an Associated Press photographer said.