A bomb from the Second World War was discovered on Tuesday at Brussels Airport at Zaventem. The area – at the end of runway 25R, in a cargo zone close to the village of Diegem – was closed off between midnight last night and 06.00 this morning while the security operation took place. The bomb has now been safely defused.
The area where the bomb was found is on the part of the airport used by Brucargo, And works are being carried out on the tarmac, which led to the bomb being discovered. The Army’s bomb disposal unit was called in, and determined the bomb could be a danger to passengers and staff at the airport. A safety perimeter of 100m was established.
The closure of the zone forced the airport to take alternative measures. Landings were shifted to runway 01, passing over Waterloo, Wezembeek and Woluwé. Take-offs used runway 07R over Leuven, unless strong winds forced the use of runway 25L, which was otherwise out of commission.
Ryanair cancelled half of its flights out of Brussels on Wednesday.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
