Police in Brussels have opened fire on a car they believed was filled with explosives.

Shots were fired after a high-speed chase through the suburb of Molenbeek when the car went through a red light and refused to stop for a police check.

Officers fired at the car's tyres after it hit two police vehicles, according to Belgian newspaper De Morgen.

Belgian broadcaster RTL quoted a police spokesman as saying: "We got the driver out, and he immediately told us that there were explosives inside."

Police have since identified the driver as a Rwandan citizen in his late thirties who they described as "confused".


He is said to have been resident in Belgium until 2009, when he moved to Germany.

Image: A robotic bomb detector probes the car

A bomb disposal squad attended the scene, using a robotic bomb detector to search the vehicle, which was registered in Germany.

Around 400 people were confined in a safety perimeter for around two hours while the safety checks took place.

Witnesses reported a loud bang around 7pm, but it is not known if it was a controlled explosion.

It was later reported that no explosives were found in the vehicle, only a suitcase and some rubbish.

Brussels has been on high alert since 32 people were killed in suicide attacks at the city's airport and a metro station in 2016.

Many suspects linked to those attacks, and the 2015 Paris terror attacks which left 129 people dead, lived or travelled through the district of Molenbeek.