The substance contained in over a dozen envelopes sent to several federal and Walloon ministries, which were put on lockdown as a result, has been identified as flour, authorities announced Wednesday.
The Brussels public prosecutor's office said they were working to identify those responsible for mailing out the envelopes, which were sent out a day apart and which sparked an anthrax procedure in Wallonia.
An envelope was flagged on 9 January at the Elysette palace, the seat of the regional Walloon government in Namur, with other envelopes flagged later in the day at sevearl regional ministers' offices.
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The following day, 18 envelopes containing white powder were found in the offices of the prime minister and of several federal ministers in Brussels, to a total of nine locations across the city, prompting lockdown procedures.
On Tuesday, a new envelope was also received at the headquarters of the Francophone Parti Socialiste in Brussels, sparking a similar emergency procedure.
The prosecutor's office said the investigation into the incident is ongoing and that no formal links had been established so far between the letters sent out in Wallonia and those sent out in Brussels.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
