Belgium identifies Brussels station bomber

Belgian security forces have identified the man who set off an explosion at one of Brussels' busiest train stations before he was shot and killed yesterday evening, authorities said on Wednesday.

The suspected attacker, who was shot dead by soldiers patrolling Brussels' central station, was reportedly a 37-year-old man from Molenbeek. The inner city borough has a large immigrant population and was home to some of those involved in Islamic State attacks on Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016.

"The terrorist's identity is known. We have been able to identify him," interior minister Jan Jambon told RTBF radio and television without giving further details. Police were searching homes in Molenbeek as part of their investigation, he added.

Witnesses said the suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) before setting off the blast, which triggered a small but intense fireball in the station's underground hall.

Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that they considered the incident a terrorist attack, although they declined to comment on the witness accounts of the man shouting Islamist slogans.

Jambon said the attack Tuesday evening could have been much worse because the "big explosion did not happen," adding more details about the device would be released shortly.

"Yesterday, someone with explosives entered central station. He intended to explode a large bomb. In the end, there was a small explosion to which soldiers reacted immediately. Something much worse has been avoided," Jambon told broadcaster VTM.

Several media outlets reported unnamed sources as saying the device that failed to fully explode was filled with nails and was similar to the bombs used in the attacks at Brussels airport and on the city's metro that killed 32 people in March 2016.

There were no other casualties apart from the suspect, who was confirmed dead by prosecutors hours after the attack.

Although no one was hurt, smoke billowing through Central Station sent commuters racing for cover.

Police halted rail traffic, evacuated the site and cleared streets.

"We will not let ourselves be intimidated, we will go on living our lives as normal," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told a news conference.

The Belgian capital, home to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union, has been on high alert since Brussels-based Islamic State members killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015 and then organised the attack in Brussels months later.