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Brussels is under attack following two explosions at the airport and a blast at a city centre metro station one hour later.

A suicide bomber terror attack forced passengers to flee Brussels Airport at 8am local time, with 14 reported dead.

One hour later, four reported blasts took place - one confirmed to be at Maalbeek metro station - located in the city centre not far from the European Union building.

In that incident it is feared that 20 people lost their lives.

The airport remains on "lock down" with all flights cancelled and all public transport in the city suspended.

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It has been claimed that the blast took place next to the American Airlines check-in desk.

A spokesman for the airport then urged people to not come near the area.

Brussels Airport's Twitter account told followers: "There have been 2 explosions at the airport.

(Image: Sky News)

"Building is being evacuated. Don't come to the airport area."

The Twitter account added: "Don't come to the airport - airport is being evacuated. Avoid the airport area. Flights have been cancelled."

Reports claim that shots were fired and words in Arabic were heard being shouted before the blasts.

American Airlines have confirmed that all its staff are safe, despite reports that the blast took place at its check-in desk.

Hundreds of people were seen in a video fleeing the airport, as smoke billows from the building.

(Image: @tine_10e/Twitter)

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alex Rossi, who was at the airport en route for Tel Aviv, told the channel: "I could feel the buildings move."

Mr Rossi told Sky News people were "dazed and shocked".

(Image: @wardmarkey/Twitter)

"The word is definitely two explosions.

(Image: Reuters)

"The thinking here by everybody is that it is some kind of terrorist attack although that hasn't been verified by anyone here at the airport.

(Image: @davidcrunelle/PA)

"No word too of casualties. Don't know how the explosion took place, the method if you like. But it certainly seems Brussels airport has been targeted in a terrorist attack.

"We are all being moved out of the airport now towards the emergency exit. There is a great deal of confusion here. Certainly there are a number of very upset, as you might imagine, very frightened people."

He added: "There are fears that there might be other attackers."

American Airlines has confirmed that all its staff are safe.

A spokesman said: "We are aware of an incident at the Brussels airport departure hall and are taking care of our customers, employees and contractors. At this time, all of our employees and contractors are accounted for with no reported injuries."

Military officers have been deployed on the streets surrounding the airport.

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As a result of the attack at Maalbeek metro station, all metro stations in the city has been shut down until further notice.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: "We are liaising with the local authorities and stand by to help any British nationals who may have been affected by the incident at Brussels airport."

(Image: Getty)

Salah Abdeslam, a suspected as a planner in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people last November, was arrested on Friday after a four-month manhunt, in the same neighbourhood in Brussels where he grew up.

But the Belgian authorities fear he had accomplices while on the run who are still at large and could pose a threat.

Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told reporters at a news conference in Brussels on Monday: "[It's clear] we have a general threat."

Mr Van Leeuw said investigators hope to find out the details of Abdeslam's actions between the November 13 attacks and his arrest, "if he decides to tell us".

(Image: @twongbe/Twitter)

Abdeslam, 26, a French citizen who grew up in Brussels' Molenbeek neighbourhood, slipped through police fingers on several occasions, including the day after the attacks.

He was interviewed three times on Saturday, the day after his capture - once by prosecutors and twice by an investigating judge - and "wasn't in great shape" because he had been shot in the leg by police during his capture, Mr Van Leeuw said.

(Image: @twongbe/Twitter)

Belgian prosecutors appealed to the public on Monday for information about a man who allegedly travelled to Hungary last year with the top suspect in the Paris attacks.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement they are seeking details about 24-year-old Najim Laachraoui, who is said to have travelled to Syria in February 2013. It said Laachraoui was checked by guards at the Austria-Hungary border while driving in a Mercedes with Abdeslam and one other person.