Belgian Army Detonates Suspect Package Outside Brussels Turkish Federation Offices

MOLENBEEK
DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities summoned soldiers to examine the contents of a package left outside the offices of the Turkish Federation in Brussels, amid fears it might have been a bomb.

Brussels prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said an army team was called in Friday and “they neutralized” the package.

Police are now testing samples taken from bag for explosive material, but Van Wymersch said it was probably meant “to scare people rather than someone who has actually made a bomb.”

She said the shoebox-sized container in a shopping bag was found by a member of the Turkish Federation in Brussels’ Schaerbeek neighborhood.

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide attackers killed 32 people at the Brussels airport and subway in March.

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