The attack occurred in a neighborhood known as one of the Belgian capital’s drug trafficking hotspots.
Two people were killed by firearms, and two others seriously injured, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the Gare du Midi district of Brussels, a police spokesperson said. The shootings occurred between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. “around a café” of the Brussels commune of Saint-Gilles, said the same source. The suspect(s) are on the run.
In addition to the two killed, there were three injured, two of whom were life-threatening. The state of the third could be “stabilized”, again according to the spokesperson for the Brussels-Midi police zone. This district was identified this year by the authorities of the Brussels region as one of the “hot spots” for drug trafficking, among around fifteen in total out of the 19 municipalities of the capital. But at this stage the police refused to establish a link with this problem.
Increase in armed violence
The prosecution could not immediately be reached, and was due to speak later in the day according to the police spokesperson. For several years, Belgium has observed an increase in armed violence linked to rivalry between drug trafficking networks.
Street shootings are occurring in both Brussels and Antwerp, whose port has become the primary route into Europe for cocaine illegally imported from South America.
