Belgian soldiers patrolling a major train station in Brussels have killed a suspected suicide bomber following an explosion.

He ran at soldiers while on fire after the blast, shouting "Allahu akbar" - God is greatest - in Arabic, before he was shot dead by troops.

Belgium's federal prosecutor confirmed the "terrorist attack" at Brussels Central, one of the country's busiest stations.

Authorities have identified the suspect as a Moroccan national, but have not released his name.

He lived in Molenbeek - the district which was home to some of the people suspected of carrying out the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016.


Police have been searching his home in the Brussels neighbourhood. Prosecutors said he had no history of being a terror suspect.

Image: Masked police leave a building during a raid in Molenbeek

The 36-year-old was carrying two explosive devices in a bag - one of which he triggered - which also contained gas canisters and nails.

It was not a full detonation, but it was strong enough to ignite him. A passer-by photographed the suspect on fire.

He lay there injured for several hours while a bomb squad made safe the second device and checked whether he had other explosives, and later died.

No civilians were injured or killed in the blast.

Bullet holes in shutters of #BrusselsCentraal station restaurant following incident last night. Attacker dead. No one else injured @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/vvoZsN2D3B — Mark Stone (@Stone_SkyNews) June 21, 2017

The suspect was initially reported to have been wearing an explosive belt and had wires coming out of his clothes, according to some media.

British mum Rozina Spinnoy was caught up in the incident as she was on her way home at 9pm and said she fled the station after hearing gunshots.

"I saw two policemen coming towards me and telling me in French to 'get out, get out and go up the stairs'," she told the Daily Record.

"There were army trucks coming and sirens blaring and this was obviously just after the bomb had gone and shots were fired so then it was chaos.

Image: Police in Brussels closed roads following the incident

"Outside some people were crying and could not hide their panic... I just kept thinking I wanted to get out of here and home to my three kids," added the 45-year-old Scot, who is married to a Belgian and lives in Brussels.

A spokesman for Belgium's railway operator said a crowd in the station panicked and "ran for the tracks" following the incident.

Brussels Central was evacuated and searched, with rail services from the station suspended. Grand Place, a major tourist site which lies about 200m away, was also evacuated.

Train services at two other stations in the capital, Brussels North and Brussels South, were also disrupted.

Image: Belgian troops and police are at the scene of the terror attack 'in large numbers'

The country has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people on the city's subway and at Brussels Airport in March last year.

Soldiers have been stationed at railway stations, government buildings and EU institutions since.

The country's Crisis Centre, which monitors security threats, kept the threat level at the second highest level.

Belgium's Prime Minister, Charles Michel, said the attack "could have been potentially very dangerous".

Image: Brussels Central is one of Belgium's busiest train stations

His spokesman said he was "following the situation very closely from the crisis centre".

People in the area were pushed away from the scene, and police on Twitter urged the public to follow instructions given by the authorities.

Sky's Europe Correspondent Mark Stone, at the scene, said: "Authorities this morning are extremely relieved that soldiers managed to deal with what could have been a horrendous incident."