A car rammed through the barriers at about 3 am and one or more attackers exploded a bomb outside Brussels Institute of Criminology near the laboratories which caught fire. The institute is linked to the Belgian ministry of justice and carries out forensic investigations in criminal cases.

A bomb exploded at the Brussels Institute of Criminology in the north of Brussels, but the building was empty and no one was wounded, broadcaster RTL said.

Brussels prosecutors have confirmed that there had been an explosion at the institute.

Belgium has been on terror alert (level three, with a maximum of four) since the bomb attacks hit the city’s airport and metro, leaving 32 people dead. Islamic State claimed the responsibility for those terrorist acts. Brussels police have been carrying out regular raids since the March attacks to look for potential terrorist suspects.

The raids are mainly conducted in the Muslim area of Brussels called Molenbeek, which is often referred to as an “Islamist hotspot.”

Belgium has become the source of more Islamic State recruits than any other European country, the UN Working Group said back in June.

By Premji