According to a report on RTL Belgium news, a auto rammed through three fences of the Brussels Institute of Criminology at 2.30 a.m.
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As the investigation got underway this morning, prosecutors said reports of a bomb were probably false and that the incident was more likely an arson attack created to destroy criminal evidence. No casualties were reported at the laboratory, which is believed to have been empty at the time.
Police have sealed off the area.
The state broadcaster, RTBF, said it has caused serious damage to the building, which police have cordoned off, The Guardian reported.
Five people were arrested nearby over the incident but they were later released. It comes as Belgium remains on high alert following the devastating Islamic State-claimed suicide attacks on the city’s airport and metro in March.
“The location was not chosen randomly”, prosecutors office spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said, noting the lab contains “sensitive information” being used in active investigations involving DNA evidence. “We have no indications that it was terrorism”, she said. This explosion has no injuries, said the prosecutor of Brussels.
Earlier it was reported that a auto had rammed through three fences before the blast – setting fire to the building and causing extensive damage. Among its tasks is carrying out forensic analysis for criminal cases.
The institute is in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of Brussels.
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Fire service spokesperson, Pierre Meys, said: “It was probably not accidental”.
