An armed soldier stands guard as police activity goes on around Brussels Central station | Stephanie Lecocq/EPA Soldiers shoot man who set off explosion in Brussels station Officials say they are treating the incident, which caused panic at the station, as a terror attack.

Belgian soldiers shot dead a man believed to have set off a small explosion in an attempted terror attack at Brussels' Central Station on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

The incident caused panic at the station, with people running in all directions and some reported to have gone onto the tracks.

Brussels has been on high alert since attackers from the city were among those who left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded in Paris in November 2015. In March 2016, 32 people died in terrorist attacks on Brussels' Zaventem airport and in the metro. As part of extensive security measures, heavily armed soldiers patrol the center of the city.

"There was a small explosion in the Central Station close to one individual. The soldiers who were present neutralized the person presumed to have caused the explosion," Eric Van Der Sypt, spokesman for the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office, said in a short statement near the scene.

Van Der Sypt said the man was still lying inside the station several hours later. He said no one else had been injured.

Van Der Sypt later told POLITICO the suspect was dead.

Belgian newspaper L'Echo reported the suspect had been wearing an explosives belt. This was later denied by authorities. A railway worker told RTBF television he had heard the man shout "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is greatest!" in Arabic) before setting off the explosion.

Van Der Sypt said he would not comment on speculation or rumors but said the incident was being "considered a terrorist attack."

Authorities now know the identity of the attacker, Le Soir reported Wednesday.

Van Der Sypt later confirmed that the suspect was 36 years old, held Moroccan nationality, and lived in the Molenbeek district of Brussels. Local media named him as Oussama Zariouh.

Following the incident, sirens could be heard wailing throughout central Brussels and at least one helicopter was deployed over the scene.

Top state officials including Prime Minister Charles Michel and Interior Minister Jan Jambon were following the situation "very closely" via the government's crisis center, Michel's spokesman said.

Michel tweeted that Belgium's National Security Council would meet Wednesday at 9 a.m.

The incident led to large crowds of "people running in every direction," according to one witness who contacted broadcaster RTL. "Panic at Central Station. Shots heard," another witness reported.

The city's central Grand Place square was evacuated for a period but later reopened.

#GareCentrale #Brussels totally sealed off by police but no description of what's happening yet. pic.twitter.com/WSqk8AGBJg — James Kanter (@jameskanter) June 20, 2017

Brussels police tweeted there had been an incident "with an individual" at the station but the situation was "under control."

SNCB, Belgium's national rail operator, tweeted that train services at Central Station had been suspended at the request of the police. They have since resumed operating, but some delays and cancelations are expected, the operator said.

Kate Day, Carmen Paun, Laurens Cerulus and Ryan Heath contributed to this article.

Authors: