Shooting in Brussels disrupts metro as police hunt suspects

The Brussels metro faced severe disruption Wednesday morning, after a shooting near Clemenceau station in Anderlecht triggered a major police manhunt. 

STIB, which runs the Brussels metro, said that the 2 and 6 lines were interrupted between Trône, near the European Parliament, and Gare de l’Ouest in Anderlecht. 

Tram lines 4 and 10 have been interrupted between Gare du Nord in Schaerbeek and Churchill in Uccle, and tram lines 51 and 81 between Porte d’Anderlecht and Brussels Midi, west of the city center.

Brussels Midi, Delacroix and Clemenceau metro stations have been closed by the police, the metro operator added.

Law enforcement said that the suspects may be in the metro tunnels, according to a local media report.

“A shooting took place. The images from the surveillance cameras show that the suspects fled towards the Clemenceau metro station,” Sarah Frederickx, spokesperson for the Brussels South police, told POLITICO.

“For security reasons we had to shut down the metro line. There are no victims,” she added.

In a statement, STIB spokesperson Guy Sablon advised travelers to “use metro lines 1 & 5 and our other bus & tram lines. Our network is pretty dense in the city centre so there should be alternative means of transport. This said, there is a big impact in the area around Midi — our busiest station.”

SNCB, Belgium’s national railway company, said: “The impact is mostly located on the metro lines.”

This story is being updated.