Around 4 p.m., a parcel bomb was reported in the parking lot of the Stockel Square shopping mall in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Police carried out an evacuation of the Stockel shopping center and metro station before the arrival of mine clearance services. The suitcase could contain a radioactive element.
At the end of the afternoon, in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a shopping center and a metro station were urgently evacuated. Many of you have sent us a message via the orange Alert us button. “Emergency evacuation of the Stockel Square gallery by police and ambulance“, indicates Anaïs, while David explains: “Suspicious package at Stockel station no more metro, police on site“. Facts that Jonathan and Haluk corroborate: “Parcel bomb in the Stockel car park“, “Large police deployment in Stockel, gallery evacuated“.
The entire parking lot is blocked
What is really happening? Contacted by us, the mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre indicates that a suitcase was left in the morning in the shopping center parking lot. The suitcase could contain radioactive elements: “Mine clearance is still on site, but it is a suitcase that does not contain explosives, but it could contain radioactive contents. We are in contact with the Federal Nuclear Control Agency“, explains Mayor Benoît Cerexhe. One of the surprising details in this affair is that the suitcase was wrapped like a gift. “It’s still special“, recognizes the mayor of the commune.
“There has already been a first approach through mine clearance, the firefighters are there. Depending on the findings of the firefighters and mine clearance, we will make a decision on the fate of this suitcase. We’re not taking any risks.“
Evacuation
It appears that shortly before 4 p.m., security guards urgently evacuated the Stockel Square car park. Norbert tells us: “My daughter is at daycare at the end of the parking lot, a guard told us that we had to evacuate for health reasons. The entire parking lot is blocked at the rear of Stockel Square. I saw the police arrive and the bomb disposal service“. Norbert does not hide his concern about the enthusiasm of the authorities and the emergency services, given the proximity to the crèche.
“All cars in the parking lot had to be evacuated urgently“, he adds. Contacted by us, the Montgomery police zone did not wish to communicate the facts. The firefighters would not have come.
A closed metro station
The Stockel metro station was closed on police orders. ““From what we have been told, the suspicious package is outside.” explains Françoise Ledune, spokesperson for STIB. “We closed and evacuated the station, we have no news“, she continues.
The impact on metro traffic is limited, given that Stockel is at the end of the line. Shuttle buses have been set up to travel from Alma to Stockel and vice versa. “We will be able to restore traffic as soon as possible“, concludes the spokesperson.
stockel Square evacuation Parcel stockel metro
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