Deadly blasts rock central Liege in Belgium

Deadly blasts rock central Liege in Belgium

www.bbc.co.uk

Explosions in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege have killed at least two people and wounded about 12, Belgian media say.

They say several men threw grenades and fired on a crowd at a bus stop.

Some reports say one of the attackers is among the dead. Local media said another had been seized by police but gunfire was continuing.

The area has been sealed off. There is no word on who carried out the attack.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not much detail at the moment but Belgium seems like an unlikely target for a terrorist attack.

No group has taken responsibility yet. These stories always escalate as more details emerge. I hope this does not become more serious or a precursor of more to come.

My thoughts are with the people and family's of the victims. Anyone know of a reason why Belgium would be attacked by any particular group?

More details to follow.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by fiftyfifty


Well it's definitely an attack. They said one of the attackers died in the explosion and there was ongoing gun fire.

#liege (Twitter) there are a couple of theories and snippets of info. As stated by the BBC, it seems grenades were thrown into a crowd on a busy street. One theory is that it may be related to an honour killing sentence of a Pakistani family although I would take that with a pinch of salt at the moment.

RTE has one grenade thrown into a courthouse.
www.rte.ie...

i'm hearing that there was also gunfire reported.

Originally posted by pazcat
RTE has one grenade thrown into a courthouse.
www.rte.ie...

It seems that this may be a revenge attack rather than a terrorist attack then at this stage. Possibly related to the honour killing case as mentioned above? I can't find any detail on the case though.

Maybe. It's definitely whats being reported.

Apparently there is a second person and there is still gunfire.
Not sure, need more info really.

At least ten people were injured. The news portal "7sur7" reported that the bombers have killed themselves. There are unconfirmed reports of further deaths. The TV channel RTL-TVI reported three men were thrown grenades. This was stated by the police but so far neither confirmed nor denied. On the hunt for a suspected accomplice, it was several hundred meters from the Place Saint-Lambert came to a shootout between police and fugitives, "reported LeVif.be".

www.spiegel.de...

sorry for (very) bad translation - google sux when translating german-eng


german news has live coverage - looks very heavy, there are bodies on the street and people are forced to stay at home...


live source (person in liege) says the shooting is still going on...


AK-47s are used O_O


2 killers down - 2 still on rampage

Dutch media is reporting it might have something to do with the escape of prisoners.
Images of the scene can be found here:
www.dailymail.co.uk...
WARNING POSSIBLE DISTURBING IMAGES!!!

Yep, translate can be iffy.

Seems a man hunt is underway.

A true "man hunt"

No suspects have been arrested for now. "There is a real manhunt," said our reporter there. "People are down and there's blood on the floor," says he.
A man would have thrown a grenade in the Palace of Justice in Liege. Two other grenades were thrown into the crowd, up from bus stops in place. According to Belga, a person apparently aged about forty years, was standing on the platform above a bakery ("hot spot") to initiate the explosive devices on the bus shelters.


Also on St. Paul Street

Explosions were also heard St. Paul Street, a street near the Place Saint-Lambert, killing at least five injured.
Ambulances from the Netherlands to reinforce

Place Saint-Lambert is closed to traffic, there is a large deployment of police, ambulances and SMUR, some from as far Maastricht. The Christmas market traders were invited to remain confined to their cabins. All the shops around were closed, leaving many customers stranded inside: "We closed the door and we started away with the customers," reflects Patricia, a shopping Liege, Bel RTL.

www.rtl.be...

There are a couple of clips in the top banner on the rtl site too.

Interestingly I can't find a single Belgian channel that has this on tv at the moment. It may just be we don't have the right channels.

Am I the only one who's considered that Anders Behring Breivik might not have been lying or exaggerating when he said there were far right cells across Europe?

I hate to say it, but that's the first thing that came to mind.

reply to post by detachedindividual


possible - ak-47s and smoke/flash-granades isn't really islamic-style...

La une says it could be a possible escape attempt. And mentions Kalashnikovs.

According to the Nouvel Observateur, the authorities of the City of Liège say it would be an attempt to escape from the Palace of Justice.

At least two authors are the cause of the facts. Ils auraient utilisé des explosifs de type thunderflash et une arme kalashnikov. They would have used explosives and weapon type Thunderflash Kalashnikov.

www.rtbf.be...

Originally posted by detachedindividual
Am I the only one who's considered that Anders Behring Breivik might not have been lying or exaggerating when he said there were far right cells across Europe?

I hate to say it, but that's the first thing that came to mind.

I must say, that was the first thing that sprung to mind when I saw the news. I wouldn't rule it out.

Apparently, this was an attempt to evade one or few prisoners from the courthouse.

Info gived by the Mayor of Liege to one media (but still need more confirmation)

reply to post by detachedindividual


I thought about it too, but not jumping to conclusions yet.

reply to post by fiftyfifty


I am only 1 hour away from there. Just read on demorgen.be that a 2-year-old girl is among the victims. I will be following this closely.

reply to post by digit78


any info on the suspects - organisation behind? are these nazis/mafia-drug cartell/ islam-terrorists?

Originally posted by soulwaxer
reply to post by fiftyfifty

 

I am only 1 hour away from there. Just read on demorgen.be that a 2-year-old girl is among the victims. I will be following this closely.

It's always made more horrific when there are children involved. I know an hour is a relatively safe distance away but I'd still keep away from busy areas. Stay safe and keep us updated with any new info.