sandralist

"Brussels was put on its highest alert level on Saturday as Belgian officials warned the public to avoid crowds because of a “serious and imminent” threat of an attack.

The level four threat was declared following a meeting of top ministers, police and security services."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ttack-imminent

pariswat

Thanks

Indeed. Metro is closed.

http://www.dhnet.be/actu/belgique/at...70bccfaf33ed45

sandralist

Brussels has closed its metro through Sunday, and the terror alert is highest in the Brussels area

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34889144

pariswat

My wife is at a convention center in the center of Bxl.
Should I start to worry ?

O tempora O mores...

sandralist

The capital area of Brussels is reported to presently be in a near-complete lockdown, with metro stations and shopping centres closed, along with car parks, and concerts and sporting events cancelled. This is expected to continue through Sunday, and perhaps beyond.

The Belgian government is distributing information in English asking for the public's cooperation in specific respects during the extraordinary period, and providing telephone numbers to call if needed:

https://twitter.com/CrisiscenterBE/s...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

pariswat

Bruxelles IS completely deserted, patrolled by a lot of policecars.


It took a long time for my wife to find a parking spot, since public parkings are also closed.

The rue Neuve is deserted, as Sandra says malls have been closed (they evacuated the ones which were open), cinemas are closed.

They take it very seriously.

Fussgaenger

Poor Brussels - such a short road from multiculti to bombiculti - now we must cower, wait and pray, but probably well beyond Sunday.

Lois2

Not a good place to be this weekend for sure. "Poor Brussels"...hum...maybe time for them to realize that they are a haven for these terrorists and get their security up to par for the situation.

ribeirasacra

Closed::: it is only in Brussels, live reports from family in Antwerpen say it is quiet, but everything is open.
The army is on the streets.

pariswat

"Poor Brussels"...hum...maybe time for them to realize that they are a haven for these terrorists "

Sure. It will help me to have a member of the family or a friend blown to pieces.
Will teach me to allow Bxl to be a haven for terrorists.

Thanks for this very sensitive post Lois. Helpful, nice, friendly and constructive.

'Il leur faudrait une bonne guerre, tiens !'

sandralist

And Paris and London aren't havens for "these terrorists"? Where was security for Parisians following the Hebdo assassinations?

I guess it helps to have a glamorous central city that lousy writer Hemingway mewled about with loads of wannabe sophisticates visiting all the time if you want some concern for your people when you are being terrorised. I'm with Victor Hugo myself: The heart of Brussels is the most beautiful place in all of Europe.

outwest

So sad to read this this morning. We've been to Brussels three times and always enjoy it. Not just the Grand Place, we love the Avenue Louise neighbourhood, Place Flagey, art nouveau, the Matonge.

Scary and sad.

PalenQ

When will the madness end - not soon I fear - tourism to Europe is plunging with cancellations rife per NYTimes article with especially France and now Belgium affected.

We all must join together to stamp out ISIS - a million boots on the ground.

WeisserTee

Knee-jerk condescending responses aside, I have some sympathy for Lois2's comment. When we moved to Brussels, we opted to live in the somewhat St. Gilles commune rather than a cushier enclave like RSG, Waterloo or WSP. Every day we walked past large scrawls on walls that called for "death to Jews" (not death to Israeli policies, but death to Jews), or saying that all Jews must die (ditto for us garden-variety infidels). I was attacked by three teenagers wearing jackets emblazoned with the Palestinian flag. We stopped getting off at the Hôtel des Monnaies/Munthof metro stop after seeing one too many large blood stains on the floors and stairs.

After the guy tried to shoot my husband at point blank range, the responding police said it was all too easy for anyone in Belgium to get a gun (at least we got one off the streets, as my husband jumped the guy who tried to shoot us and I grabbed the gun when it fell to the street in the scuffle). We heard similar complaints from the regulars at the cop cafe where we used to hang out after moving to Etterbeek.

Brussels also is, or at least was, rife with organized crime. We used to see parked outside one of the nearby "champagne bars" (wink, wink) a luxury convertible full of shopping bags from places like Hermes and Louis Vuitton. They were never touched. All the local thieves knew the car belonged to one of the organized crime lords.

Many of the cops we talked to felt their hands were tied from above by protection for the crime kingpins. Hopefully that type of corruption has already left the building or is on its way out.

Note: even here in Basel, which is quite a safe city, there were groups of heavily armed police patrolling the main shopping streets. Sad. Not the best run-up to the opening of the Christmas markets.

pariswat

Working for the CIA ?

I had never heard of people being attacked in the streets, let alone twice, including one with gun involved.

I fear guns are still easy to get by in Bruxelles.

Must have been lucky.

WeisserTee

"I had never heard of people being attacked in the streets, let alone twice, including one with gun involved."

Now you have.

By the way, the shooter attacked us right outside the Citadines near the Place Louise. The mugging was in the park behind the old Hilton, now The Hotel. At 6 pm. Several others were attacked there by the same three, including a couple in their 80s and a woman seven months pregnant. The police wanted to put up some security cameras and post a notice, but weren't allowed, as this would have been "racial profiling."

MyriamC

Cafés and restaurants in the centre of Brussels have been urgently requested to close their doors at 6 pm.

sandralist

Given WesserTee's post, one wonders why French authorities didn't immediately seal the border with Belgium once the attacks in Paris had occurred.

sandralist

Also meant to post - despite reading on another thread that US embassy statements should be ignored in favour of "independent reading" -- that the US embassy in Belgium has advised all American citizens there to "shelter in place", including thousands of American military personnel stationed there.

StCirq

I thought that the French authorities acted very quickly to seal off the border with Belgium or at least after the shootings in St-Denis, when they knew these guys came from Belgium. Am I wrong? I thought it all went down very quickly.

I think it's fairly well known that Belgium harbors a lot of bad stuff. But why is it so hard to police? The seat of Europena Government is there - you would think there would be very stringent laws and oversight onto such situations as this.

I'm sorry for all the people of Bruxelles. I love that city.

We had our own false alarme today at the train staton in Périgueux - a student left a backpack in the underground passage between the quai and all hell broke loose. 100 passengers were evacuated and so was the train station, for an hour or more.

We're all a little frazzled here, even those of us who live far from where any bombs might go off.