A suspect was shot by police in Schaerbeek on Tuesday morning as part of the investigation into the terrorist attack in Brussels on Monday evening. The area was cordoned off this morning but is now once again open to traffic.
The identity of the suspect was confirmed on Tuesday morning by the Crisis Centre, and he is indeed the perpetrator of the attack near Place Sainctelette. He was intercepted in a café on Rue Van Oost, close to Place Eugène Verboekhoven in Schaerbeek by officers from the Brussels North Police Zone.
The 45-year-old man of Tunisian origin was taken to hospital in a critical condition and succumbed to his injuries, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.
The area from the Cage aux Ours to Place du Pavillon, which was cordoned off this morning by the police, is once again open to traffic. Trams passing through Place Eugène Verboekhoven in Schaerbeek are running again, although tram 55 is being diverted and will be passing along the Quai des usines, a STIB official said. Rue Van Oost is still closed to traffic, however.
"I live right here on Rue Princesse Elisabeth. This morning, I wanted to drop my daughter off at her school, which is two tram stops away, but everything was already blocked, so we are waiting," a local resident, accompanied by her daughter, told Belga News Agency.
At around 09:30, a forensics van also drove through the cordoned-off area at Place Eugène Verboekhoven. Local residents also handed out hot tea to the police and journalists.
