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The blast took place at Brussels Central Station at 9pm local time (8pm GMT) and the adjacent historic downtown area, packed with tourists and locals on a hot summer evening. A witness told Het Laatste Nieuws tabloid a man shouted "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic before the explosion. Nicolas Van Herrewegen, an employee at Brussels Central Station, also told reporters the suspect had cried "Allahu Akbar" and blew up a trolley. Soldiers ran toward the spot, saw wires protruding from the man's clothes, and shot him. The man died at the scene. On Wednesday morning the Belgian interior minister announced the attacker had been identitified by authorities. The man's identity has not been publicly revealed.

The station - one of the busiest in the country - was partly evacuated as police set up a security cordon, witnesses told Belgian media. Authorities said that the individiual wearing an explosive belt had been "neutralised". Stationmaster Jean-Michel Michel told DH newspaper: "We heard the explosion. My colleague thought it was a bomb.

Twitter An explosion hit Brussels Central Station today

"The explosion was on the mezzanine level. The man went down to platforms three and four. "He said 'Allahu Akbar'...I would put him at about 35 years old." Police reached the scene quickly, pushing back local people away from the area in a bid to keep them safe

SKY Workmen repairing the minimal damage caused by the Brussels attacker

They have not yet confimed if it was a bomb blast and the type of device used was not immediately clear. But Belgian troops were patrolling Brussels Central Station, a police spokesman said. There are no other fatalities or people injured, according to Sky News.

AFP People fled from the scene after the blast rocked the station

Brussels station explosion latest pictures Tue, June 20, 2017 The explosion took place at Brussels Central station and the adjacent historic downtown area, packed with tourists and locals Play slideshow EPA 1 of 20 Belgian soldier stand guard outside of the Brussels Central Station after a neutralized terrorist attack attempt, in Brussels, Belgium, 20 June 2017

Belgian federal prosecutors said that the explosion set off by a man in the central station of Brussels was being considered as a terrorist attack. Federal prosecutors spokesman Eric Van der Sypt told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference near the station that he could not confirm if the attacker, who was shot by troops patrolling the station, was still alive, nor give any details about his identity. He said: "At about 8.30 p.m. there was an explosion in the central station, relatively small in size. The suspected perpetrator was neutralised by the soldiers present. We cannot confirm if the man is still alive or dead. There were no further victims. We are considering this as a terrorist attack."

handout Belgian police said that an incident involving a suspect was unfolding

A police spokesman said: "There was an accident at Central Station. There was an explosion around a person. That person was neutralised by the soldiers that were on the scene. "At the moment, the police are in numbers at the station and everything is under control." As a precaution, the bomb squad was called in after the explosion rocked the station.

handout Belgian military and police are responding to the incident that rocked the station

Explosions at Brussels Centraal. We missed them by practically nothing, evacuated into restaurant for now. Hoping for no casualties. pic.twitter.com/LSPK9O0yXr — Arash Aazami (@arashaaz) June 20, 2017

AFP Belgian military stand guard after the explosion to ensure that people are safe

A public prosecutor told DH Newspaper: "An individual carrying a rucksack and an explosive belt in Central Station has been shot dead." "He seems to have set off his device when the soldiers started paying attention to him."

Getty Police cordon off station after the blast that took hold near tourists

A spokesman for Belgium's railway operator said a crowd in the station panicked and "ran for the tracks" after the explosion. Pierre Meys, a fire service spokesman, told RTL that an explosion had taken place in the station. Witnesses at the station told Belgian media that they heard two loud explosions in quick succession.Eyewitness, Arash Azami, said that some local people had been evacuated and were huddling in a restaurant. The city has been on high alert for more than 18 months since Brussels-based Islamic State militants carried out attacks in Paris that killed 130 people there in November 2015 and later bombed Brussels airport and the city's metro in March last year.

AP Belgian troops are guarding the area while a probe is carried out