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Friday 22 September 2023 Dublin: 12°C
# Belgium
European Parliament evacuated after bomb alert
The scene has now been declared safe.

BELGIAN POLICE HAVE evacuated hundreds of people from the European Parliament after a suspicious vehicle was spotted nearby.

Media outlet RTL reported that there was a drunk man with weapons in the car.

Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot said police evacuated three of the parliament’s buildings in Brussels and cordoned off the vehicle.

Belgian media showed a photograph of a police robot moving toward a vehicle in a nearby street.

Duch Guillot said about 500 people has to leave. He said two of the three buildings, used only for administrative purposes, have since been declared safe.

Irish MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was among those present at the time of the evacuation.

Belgium has been on high alert since the Paris terror attacks last month. There have been a series of police raids on suspected foreign fighters in the city.

Additional reporting: Associated Press

As it happened: Charlie Hebdo suspects dead and four hostages killed in Jewish store

Troops are being deployed on the streets of Belgium

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