"People were running away", he said.
A suspect allegedly involved in a small explosion at Brussels Central station, that authorities are now treating as an act of terrorism, has died according to the Belgian news agency Belga.
Initial reports on Tuesday said the blast at Central Station could have come from an explosive belt, but subsequent accounts pointed to the blast coming from a suitcase.
After the incident, which took place at about 8.30pm on Tuesday, the station and the nearby historic downtown area, including the Grand Place, were partly evacuated as police set up a security cordon. Rail traffic was largely suspended. "He was talking about the jihadists and all that and then at some point he shouted "Allahu akbar" and blew up the little suitcase he had next to him". People standing within three metres of the trolley were unhurt, Herrewegen said.
The Belgian government is determined to "face a terrorist situation in Europe and not only in Belgium head on, and not to let ourselves be intimidated", Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters after convening his security advisers.
The city has been on high alert for more than 18 months since Brussels-based Islamic State militants carried out attacks in Paris that killed 130 people there in November 2015 and later bombed Brussels airport and the city's metro in March previous year. On Wednesday, hooded police and forensic officers raided a home in the neighborhood and left with bags full of evidence.
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Combat troops have been a fixture at transport hubs and in the main public areas ever since the Paris attacks. One man has reportedly been shot, though there have been no confirmed reports of casualties so far by the authorities. The device only caused a small explosion, suggesting that it was a poorly made device. My colleague thought it was a bomb. The case then partially exploded and with the luggage in flames, the suspect went down to a platform in pursuit of a station master, he said. He said "Allahu Akbar".
Remy Bonnaffe, a 23-year-old lawyer who was waiting on the concourse for a train home to Ghent, said he was startled by an explosion as he listened to music on his headphones.
Van der Sypt said the attack suspect's bag at Brussels station contained gas canisters and nails.
"The suspect has been neutralised by the military that were present at the scene immediately after the explosion", he said.
The first inkling that travellers had that they were in the midst of another terrorist attack was the muffled sound of an explosion at the train station shortly before 9pm yesterday.
Ronan Flood, Managing Director at Dublin based Advantage Group, wrote on Twitter that he was in a restaurant in the Royal Galleries - 500m from Gare Central when the incident took place. "We will go on living our lives as normal".
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