Attackers set fire to crime laboratory in apparent bid to destroy vital evidence
ATTACKERS rammed a car through the gates of Belgium’s crime institute and set fire to a lab containing crime scene samples, apparently in an effort to destroy evidence.
Residents heard at least one explosion as the blaze erupted in a north Brussels suburb and Belgian media reported a bomb attack, but investigators said the noise was probably materials going up in flames.
Prosecutors said five people were detained for questioning and released without charge following the incident at about 2am yesterday in Neder-OverHeembeek. No-one was injured.
“It’s probably not terrorism. It’s a criminal act,” said Ine Van Wymersch, a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor’s office.
“I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.”
The forensic facility assists Belgium’s justice authorities in carrying out their investigations and the lab contains DNA found at crime scenes.
“The location was not chosen randomly,” said Ms Van Wymersch.
She said the lab contains sensitive information being used in ongoing investigations.
The fire and damage hampered the efforts of investigators to enter the scene, and she said it would take some time to establish exactly what had been destroyed.
“The laboratory does thousands of analyses each year, so we don’t know what damage has been done yet,” said Ms Van Wymersch.
“It is obvious that several individuals would have an interest in making elements in their justice file disappear.”
Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombings at the Brussels airport and subway killed 32 people on March 22.
The police and army have been deployed in large numbers since suicide bombers attacked Paris last November, leaving 130 dead. Many attackers had links to Belgium.
Tensions have also been running high in recent weeks amid a series of criminal knife and shooting attacks and two hoax anthrax attacks.
One person was killed and at least four injured on Friday in an explosion at a sports centre near the French border.
Prime minister Charles Michel announced plans to ease the load on the security services at the weekend.