Brussels attacks: Terror suspect on the run after 34 killed in blasts at airport and metro station

Updated

Belgian anti-terror police are carrying out raids across the country in the hunt for a man believed to be on the run in the wake of triple attacks which killed 34 people in Brussels.

Key points: PM confirms searches taking place in several parts of the country

Police find bomb and IS flag during house search in Schaerbeek

Manhunt focusing on man in light-coloured jacket seen running from airport

Belgium has declared three days of mourning after bomb attacks ripped through the capital's airport and the Maelbeek underground train station, with Islamic State claiming responsibility. More than 200 people were injured.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said searches were taking place "in several parts of the country" and "several witnesses also were being heard".

Police found a bomb and an Islamic State flag during a house search in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek, public broadcaster VRT said.

"The searches that took place in the Schaerbeek found an explosive device containing, among other things, nails," federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said in a statement.

"Investigators also discovered chemicals and a flag of the Islamic State."

The manhunt was focusing on a man seen running away from the airport building after twin suicide bombings there.

Police issued a wanted notice for the man, who was caught on airport CCTV walking beside two other suspects, who appear to have blown themselves up moments later.

He was wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat.

The other two men were each wearing gloves on their left hands.

"A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-coloured jacket and a hat, is actively being sought," Mr Van Leeuw said.

The wanted notice follows a similar call issued by a judge on Monday for Najim Laachraoui, 25, who had travelled to Hungary in September with Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.

The poor quality of the images on the two wanted notices left it unclear whether the man in the white shirt at the airport could be Lachraoui, whose picture was on the front pages of Belgian newspapers on Tuesday morning.

The airport will remain closed, and it is not yet known when it will reopen.

Some public transport services have resumed after the metro blast. More than 500 security personnel stood guard at a limited number of metro stations as they reopened to deal with the evening rush hour.

A candlelight vigil was held at Place de la Bourse in central Brussels.

The attacks occurred four days after the arrest in Brussels of Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in November's attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

But US officials said the level of organisation involved in the latest attacks suggested they had been planned for some time.

Belgian police had been on alert for any reprisal action after the arrest of Abdeslam, who remains in a high-security prison in Belgium.

Reuters/AFP

Topics: crime, terrorism, belgium

First posted