An anonymous bomb threat caused the Brussels police to shut down the area around the Palace cinema in the centre of Brussels on Tuesday afternoon.
According to sources various media reports, an individual made an online threat to blow up the cinema and two nearby metro stations.
The incident caused panic in the centre of the capital, which is in the middle of the summer tourist season.
Nothing suspicious was found after police conducted extensive searches in the area, with the security perimeter having been lifted after 17:00.
Three metro stations – De Brouckère, Bourse and Anneessens – had been closed down, but these were all reopened by 18:00, a STIB spokesperson confirmed to The Brussels Times.
After police had undertaken extensive searches of the building with sniffer dogs, the cinema was also allowed to reopen and screenings could resume.
"At around 14:00, the police told us that everyone in the building had to leave," said Lysiane Menier, communications officer at the Palace cinema, told Belga.
Illustration image shows cinema Palace. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
"There were about fifty people. The police then searched the entire building with explosive detection dogs. After an hour or two, we were given permission to re-enter the building and resume our activities," Menier said.
The terraces in the area were also evacuated, but not the restaurants and cafés themselves, even if no one was allowed outside. These establishments were also later given the all-clear.
Police had arrived in large numbers to search and evacuate the area around the cinema on Boulevard Anspach. They had asked people to avoid the area until further notice and set up a security cordon.
"We can confirm that a bomb alert has been reported to us. We have evacuated the area around the Palace cinema and the nearby metro stations. Searches are ongoing," said the spokesperson for the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone.
Travel impact
Earlier, the impact on transport had been immediate. Metro lines 1 and 5 were suspended between the Arts-Loi and Comte de Flandre stations, according to Brussels public transport operator STIB on social media channels.
"Police have asked us to close three stations: De Brouckère, Bourse and Anneessens," STIB spokesperson Laurent Vermeersch told The Brussels Times. "Metro (1-5) and tram (4-10) lines are not stopping in those stations, but the lines are running."
The information was first reported by Het Laatste Nieuws and confirmed by local authorities. No further information is available.
This story was updated at 18:20 on 29 July 2025.
