Brussels police have partially evacuated an area around the Fernand Cocq area of the city after an explosive device was handed in at the local station after being found in a house.
The news first appeared on social media on Sunday morning amid reports of police presence and a perimeter set up in the Fernand Cocq area of Brussels.
#AlerteIxelles le quartier de la place Fernand Cocq est actuellement en partie évacué pour des raisons de sécurité préventives. Une salle est ouverte rue du Viaduc 14 pour les habitants de la rue du Collège qui ont dû quitté leur domicile. #Ixelles
— Christos Doulkeridis (@doulkeridis) May 24, 2020
Translation: #AlerteIxelles the district of place Fernand Cocq is currently partially evacuated for preventive security reasons. A room is open on rue du Viaduc 14 for residents of rue du Collège who have had to leave their home. #Ixelles
According to local police, the reason for the evacuations is a safety precaution - after a potentially explosive device was found while cleaning a house and handed in at the local station.
"Several houses have been cleared, and the Rue du Collège has been closed around the police station in Ixelles, because someone came to drop off a bag with a grenade in it, among other things," Olivier Slosse, spokesperson for the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone told The Brussels Times. "The family of someone who had died found it while clearing the house. That person then brought it to the police station."
"And then, to avoid any risk, the army demining service was asked to come and defuse and remove it. However, for that, a perimeter has to be set up, because that could be dangerous."
Jules Johnston
The Brussels Times
