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Part of the European quarter in Brussels was evacuated on Tuesday, just two days before a European summit following a bomb threat to a lobbying firm.
The call was received by GPLUS, a public affairs and strategic communications consulting firm located across from the offices of Agence-France Presse (AFP).
The office is also a few dozen metres from the UK permanent representation where staff, hard at work on Brexit, were ordered to remain indoors.
“I evacuated the offices and notified the police,” GPLUS executive Thomas Barros-Tastets told AFP.
The alert was lifted shortly after 1:00 pm (1200 GMT), two hours after the intervention began.
Belgian police and the fire brigade mobilised significant resources, including a team to evacuate potential victims as quickly as possible.
The perimeter was sealed off, building residents confined and police sniffer dogs inspected vehicles parked in the area.