Investigators play down terrorism fears and say attack could be attempt to destroy forensic evidence

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Reports of a bomb outside Belgium’s criminology institute were probably false, the Brussels prosecutor’s office said, describing the incident as much more likely to be an arson attack designed to destroy criminal evidence.

“It’s probably not terrorism. It’s a criminal act,” said spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch. “I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.”

State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets had reported that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2am local time on Monday (midnight GMT) and there followed an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility. Nobody was injured.

The institute is in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of Brussels. It is linked to the Belgian ministry of justice and carries out forensic investigations in criminal cases.

The institute is in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of the city centre. Photograph: Guardian

Investigators said the suspected arsonists set fire to a laboratory used to analyse DNA samples found at crime scenes.

“So it’s an act that could be linked to [destroying] several files,” Van Wymersch said.

She said any explosion heard by residents may have been caused by material being consumed in the fire.

Belgium has been on high alert since March when attacks on the the city’s airport and subway killed 32 people.

Belgium’s police and army have been deployed in large numbers since the suicide bomb attacks in Paris last November that left 130 dead.

Tensions have been high in Belgium in recent weeks amid a series of knife attacks and shootings and two hoax anthrax cases. These triggered spikes in security but were not thought to be terrorism-related.

Days before the Brussels attacks, Salah Abdeslam, suspected of being one of the leaders of the terror attacks in Paris, was arrested in the Molenbeek area of Brussels after a four-month international manhunt.