The authorities said Belgian soldiers "neutralised" the suspect, although it was not clear if the suspect survived.
"Extra security measures have been decided for the coming hours and days", said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel after a 36-year-old Moroccan national shouting "Allahu akbar" set a bomb among commuters.
But he says he could not give a name other information yet due to current investigations.
"If we do that, it would be fulfilling the aim of the terrorists". On Monday, an armed man was killed in Paris after he rammed a auto loaded with weapons and explosives into a police convoy on the Champs-Élysées.
The man was shot by soldiers after detonating a small device there late Tuesday in what prosecutors are treating as a "terrorist attack".
Smoke billowed through the elegant 1930s marble hallways of the station, sending people fleeing to the surface, well aware of last year's attacks at Brussels airport and on the metro, as well as of a string of Islamic State-inspired assaults in France, Germany, Sweden and Britain.
The explosive TATP was used in the November 2015 Paris attacks, the March 2016 Brussels bombings and the May 2017 Manchester bombing.
"He grabbed his suitcase while shouting and causing a partial explosion".
"The suitcase immediately caught fire". The man left his baggage and went down to the platform following the head of the train station. This bag contained nails and gas bottles.
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Iran is a solid backer of the Syrian regime and has given President Bashar Assad extensive military and political support. This is the first time since its 1980s war with Iraq that Iran has launched a major missile strike outside the country.
Earlier reports said the man was wearing an explosive belt, but Van der Sypt said that wasn't true.
He was not known to the police for terrorism-related activities, Van Der Sypt said.
Police raided the man's home overnight, Van Der Sypt said.
Belgium would keep its terror alert level at three on a scale of four, Michel said after chairing a meeting with his national security council.
The explosion in the Brussels station came one day after another failed attack in Paris.
Rail company spokeswoman Elisa Roux said trains were diverted from the station and buses sent to take passengers.
Witnesses said the suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) before setting off the blast, which triggered a small but intense fireball in the station's underground hall. "That person was neutralized by the soldiers that were on the scene", the police spokesman said of Tuesday's incident.
According to well informed sources, there are about 800 suspected jihadists in Belgium, 450 in Brussels, and 85 in Molenbeek.
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