Five arrested after pair rams car into crime lab and sets fire to building in bid to ‘destroy evidence’
Terror fears in Belgium after early morning explosion rips through Brussels Institute of Criminology
TERROR fears were ignited in Brussels this morning after attackers targeted the city's Institute of Criminology to "destroy evidence" in their laboratories.
Five people were arrested nearby after a car rammed through the site's barriers at roughly 3am, before one attacker scaled a ladder and set fire to a lab used for analysing DNA samples.
Belgian state media report that two people drove onto the site in a car which they torched before fleeing the scene.
The building was empty and no one was injured.
Local investigators believe it may have been an attempt to destroy evidence in the labs.
Prosecutors have said early reports it was a bomb attack are probably false and that the attack was more likely arson.
Spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said: "It's probably not terrorism. It's a criminal act.
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"I cannot confirm that were was any bomb".
Fire service spokesman Pierre Meys has confirmed there was an explosion, and said: "It was probably not accidental.
"The explosion was extremely powerful.
"Windows of the lab were blown out dozens of metres away."
The five people who were arrested are being held for questioning.
The five people who were arrested are being held for questioning.
The institute is in the city's Neder-Over-Hembeek suburb and advisers there assist Belgium's justice authorities.
Eyewitnesses have reported seeing thick black smoke coming from the building before roughly fire fighters descended on the scene.
The attack killed 32 people.
The horrific bombings were claimed by ISIS.
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