Terror attack thwarted as man who tried to drive into crowd in Antwerp arrested

                    

                       A man tried to drive into a crowd in Antwerp (Picture: ATV)

A man has been arrested after trying to drive into a crowd in Antwerp, Belgium.
Belgian police have confirmed a suspect has been detained.
Prosecutors have confirmed the suspect arrested is a French national and said they found knives, a shotgun and a gas can with an unknown liquid.

He has been identified as 39-year-old Mohamed R, a French national of North African origin and living in France.
The maroon-coloured vehicle, believed to have French number plates, ran a red light before the man attempted to drive directly into a crowded shopping street.
The attacker apparently made several unsuccessful attempted to mow down pedestrians.
Police in the northern Belgian city of Antwerp said the man tried to enter the main pedestrianised shopping street in a car at high speed.
Images posted on social media show investigators at the scene.

Belgian defence, pictured at the Sint-Michielskaai in Antwerp, the location of a possible thwarted terrorist attack in Antwerp, Thursday 23 March 2017 The bomb squad was brought in and the authorities raised security in the centre of town, in places where people normally gather.Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said the driver of the car was detained once it was stopped.

‘At about 11 a.m. this morning a vehicle entered De Meir at high speed due to which pedestrians had to jump away,’ a police spokesman told a news conference, referring to the street name.
He added the driver was later arrested and additional police and military personnel had been deployed to the centre of Antwerp.

                     

                                                 De Meir, Antwerp 

A man in camouflage was taken away by authorities, the press conference was told.
Eyewitnesses said they saw many being forced to jump out of the way as the speed of the car increased. It is not yet known if there were any serious injuries.

‘The car was stopped as it jumped a red light, and a safety perimeter established around it immediately,’ said a local police source.‘Soldiers on patrol searched it, and it was found to contain weapons, and other illegal materials. The driver was wearing a military style uniform, and was arrested at the scene in the early afternoon.

‘An anti-terrorist enquiry has been launched. Bomb disposal experts are at the scene, along with sniffer dogs.’
It was almost a year to the day since Islamic State suicide bombers murdered 32 people in Brussels, after attacking the city’s airport and a metro station.
Those responsible were part of the Isis gang that hit Paris in November 2015, killing 130 people in a single night of violence.

           

Belgian defence, patrol in Antwerp where Belgian police arrested a man on March 23, 2017