EU Parliament buildings evacuated after bomb alert as man found with gun and chainsaw
Belgian police have detained a Slovakian man dressed in camp gear close to the European Parliament. The man was said to have a gun and a chainsaw in his car.
Part of the European Parliament building in Brussels was evacuated earlier today following a bomb alert.
Belgian police took the precautionary measure as a result of a suspicious vehicle parked in nearby Motoyer street.
A police robot was photographed apparently investigating the vehicle. The robot was deployed close to 11am local time.
In total three buildings were evacuated, all of which were part of the EU parliament's complex. The buildings involved in the incident were the communication, training and human resources departments.
Roughly 500 had to leave their work stations but two of the three buildings have now been declared safe.
Bystanders tweeted pictures from the scene.
#ep evacuated, suspected car rue montoyer. Robot at work #carbomb #brussels pic.twitter.com/FfMdbnwDAd
— Steve Senatore (@Reasonofadoubt) February 2, 2015
Déminage en cours Rue Montoyer a Bruxelles pic.twitter.com/uiqZ7WR5Vd
— José Manuel Hidalgo (@toro_bravo99) February 2, 2015
Earlier in the day a false alarm was triggered because of another car near the US embassy in Brussels. According to enikos, a man was seen running from the car.