Passengers and workersevacuated in bomb scares

11 August 2004

BRUSSELS – Brussels’ Midi station was evacuated on Wednesday morning after a bomb scare.

A caller phoned railway police at about 10am, saying a bomb was going to explode at 10.30am.

The station was immediately cleared while police searched the station. They found no suspect package, but checked several passengers’ luggage.

The alert was called off at 10.40am. “Rail travel at Brussels was disrupted from 10am to 10.40am,” said SNCB spokesman Jochem Goovaerts. “During that time, trains didn’t stop at Brussels Midi.”

The hoax came the day after nine sites at Umicore Belgium were evacuated following a bomb scare.

An anonymous caller told the metal and material firm’s head office at Hoboken that a bomb would go off at 2pm yesterday at one of its sites.

The hoaxer had an English accent and refused to be specific about where the bomb was alleged to be located. After advice from the police, Umicore evacuated all its workers. Police and firefighters searched the nine buildings before giving the all-clear.

Subject: Belgian news