Armed police respond to 'murder' in Brussels
Armed police have been seen hiding behind buildings and staking out a rooftop in a suburb of the capital.
Thursday 22 February 2018 14:58, UK
Armed officers have sealed off part of Brussels following reports of a possible murder, police have said.
Belgian police closed a street in the neighbourhood of Forest as armed officers descended on several buildings, with local media reporting that "one or several" gunmen were at large.
A police helicopter was also sighted flying overhead, but a spokeswoman denied that any gunmen were hiding in the area, or that the incident was terror-related.
She said that "special units of the federal police" had been deployed after a Polish man reported that someone had been murdered on Thursday morning.
The police response began at around lunchtime.
Brussels has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people at the city airport and on the metro in March 2016.
And Forest was the scene of a police shootout after the deadly Paris attacks in November 2015, when one of the suspects - - hid in the suburb.