The incident happened just after 2 a.m. local time on Monday when a loud explosion was heard at the complex in Neder-Over-Heembeek, which is located in the northern part of the City of Brussels. A fire broke out at the scene.



There were no injuries as a result of the explosion, but residents in the surrounding neighborhood reported being shaken by the blast. Firefighters extinguished the fire that engulfed the car and caused damage in the vicinity. No one was injured.



Belgian media initially reported that the incident was caused by an explosives-laden vehicle that was rammed through gates at the facility before being detonated, but officials later said that no explosives were found. Instead, the fire was likely caused by fuel that was set on fire.



"It's probably not terrorism. It's a criminal act," Ine Van Wymersch, a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor's office, told the Associated Press news agency.



This is a breaking news alert. Please check back or follow @BNONews on Twitter as details become available. If you want to receive breaking news alerts by email, click here to sign up. You can also like BNO News on Facebook by clicking here.



Les pompiers sont toujours sur place #Belga #Nederoverheembeek pic.twitter.com/KVuxyuX9wx — Angèle Olivier (@AngeleOlivier) August 29, 2016





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</s>Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption A vehicle was used to break through barriers before it was destroyed by fire

Attackers rammed a car through the gates of a Brussels crime laboratory before starting a fire to destroy forensic evidence, prosecutors say.

Prosecutor's spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch said a car broke through fences at about 02:00 (00:00 GMT).

She said there was "sensitive material" inside the laboratories, but it is not yet clear what if anything was destroyed in the fire.

Five people arrested nearby were later released without charge.

Initial reports in Belgian media said a bomb had exploded. But Ms Van Wymersch said that while a bomb was unlikely to have detonated, it was impossible to fully rule out that scenario.

"The location was not chosen randomly," she said. "It's an important site, that includes sensitive documents relating to current investigations."

"The possibility of a terrorist act is not confirmed. It goes without saying that several individuals may have wanted to destroy evidence related to their legal cases," Ms Van Wymersch added.

The case was being treated as arson, she said.

Image copyright Reuters

Some 30 firefighters helped put out the fire at the National Institute of Criminology, which Ms Van Wymersch said caused damage but caused no casualties.

Forensic analysis linked to criminal cases is carried out at the site, but while it is not the only laboratory of its kind linked to the police, it is the most important forensic test centre in Belgium.

Images submitted to broadcaster RTL by nearby residents showed flames and heavy smoke rising into the night sky.

The independent institute, linked to Belgium's federal justice body, is in Neder-Over-Heembeek, a suburb in the north of Brussels.

Belgium's terror alert level remains high since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro, claimed by so-called Islamic State, that killed 32 people in March.</s>BRUSSELS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded at the Brussels Institute of Criminology in the north of the Belgian capital on Monday but the building was empty and no one was wounded, broadcaster RTL said.

Brussels prosecutors confirmed that there had been an explosion at the institute and that there had been no casualties but said the cause had still not been determined.

A car rammed through the barriers at about 3 a.m. local time and one or more attackers exploded a bomb near the laboratories which caught fire, RTL said.

The institute is linked to the Belgian ministry of justice and carries out forensic investigations in criminal cases, it says on its website.

Europe has been on high alert after Islamic State attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>Five held over fire at Brussels criminology institute - prosecutors

BRUSSELS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Five people were being held and questioned on Monday over a fire at Brussels' criminology institute, a spokeswoman for the city's prosecutors said.

Arsonists set fire to Belgium's National Institute of Criminology in Brussels earlier on Monday, causing an explosion but no casualties.

"Five people were detained in the vicinity and are being heard," the spokeswoman, Ine Van Wymersch, told a news conference. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska)</s>A bomb has reportedly gone off at the Brussels Institute of Criminology.

It happen at about 2.30am loncal time, according to Belgian media.

A car reportedly rammed three fences to get near the institute’s building, where the bomb was detonated. No casualties were reported

Brussels airport and metro were the targets of an Islamic State bomb attack that killed 32 people in March. Belgium remains on a high terror alert.</s>A bomb has exploded at the Brussels Institute of Criminology in the north of Brussels but the building was empty and no one was wounded, according to local media.

A car rammed through the barriers at about 3am local time on Monday and one or more attackers exploded a bomb near the laboratories which caught fire, broadcaster RTL said.

State broadcaster RTBF said no one was injured but that damage at the site was significant. Police have been deployed in force and sealed off the area.

The institute is in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of Brussels. It is linked to the Belgian ministry of justice and carries out forensic investigations in criminal cases.

Belgium has been on high alert since March when attacks on the the city’s airport and subway killed 32 people.

Days before the Brussels attacks, Salah Abdeslam, one of the leaders of the terror attacks on Paris in November 2015, was arrested in the Molenbeek area of Brussels after a four-month international manhunt.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.</s>Arsonists set fire to Belgium’s National Institute of Criminology in Brussels on Monday, causing an explosion but no casualties, a Brussels prosecutor said.

Ine Van Wymersch said there were no immediate indications that the fire at the institute, which was empty at the time, was a militant attack although nothing had been ruled out.

Europe has been on high alert after Islamic State attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year.

“It was arson, deliberate arson at the laboratory of the federal police,” she said. “With a fire you get explosions, but it’s not that explosives were thrown inside or installed.”

“It is a path we are looking down,” she said, referring to the possibility of militant involvement. “But certainly not the first one we are thinking about. We are thinking more of deliberate arson by organised crime. We have no indications that it was terrorism,” she said.

The institute is linked to the Belgian ministry of justice and carries out forensic investigations in criminal cases, according to its website.

The attack was carried out by more than one person, Ms van Wymersch said. Two people had been detained, although they were not necessarily the perpetrators.

Belgian broadcaster RTL said that a car rammed through barriers at the centre at about 3am local time.</s>Nobody hurt in blast outside Brussels criminology institute

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian media say unidentified attackers have detonated a bomb outside Belgium's criminology institute in the capital, Brussels, but the building was empty and nobody was injured.

State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets reported Monday that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2 a.m. (0000 GMT), followed by an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility on Brussels' north side.

Police have deployed in force and sealed off the area.

The institute assists and advises Belgium's justice authorities in carrying out their investigations.

Belgium has been on high alert since coordinated March 22 suicide bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and subway killed 32 people.</s>A bomb has exploded at the Brussels Institute of Criminology in the north of Brussels.

A car rammed through the barriers at about 3am and one or more attackers exploded a bomb near the laboratories which caught fire, RTL said.

The blast hit the empty building on Monday morning and no one was wounded - it is not clear what happened to the bombers.

There was significant damage at the site and police have sealed off the area.

State broadcaster RTBF said a car with two people on board accessed the site before scaling a ladded and launching a bomb at the building.

They are then said to have torched their vehicle.

The institute, which is in the Neder-Over-Hembeek suburb of northern Brussels, assists and advises Belgium's justice authorities in carrying out their inquiries.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing thick black smoke coming from the building before fire crews descended on the scene in the early hours of the morning.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Fire service spokesman, Pierre Meys, said: 'it was probably not accidental.

'The explosion was extremely powerful. Windows of the lab were blown out dozens of metres away.'

He said about 30 firefighters were called to the scene.

Belgium has been on high alert since a March 22 attack on the Brussels airport and tube network killed 32 people.

Those attacks were claimed by ISIS, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror atrocities in Europe in recent months.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) - Reports of a bomb outside Belgium’s criminal institute early Monday are probably false, the Brussels prosecutor’s office said, adding that the incident is much more likely an arson attack on a crime lab.

“It’s probably not terrorism. It’s a criminal act,” said spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch. “I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.”

State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets reported that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2 a.m., followed by an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility on Brussels’ north side. Nobody was injured.

The institute assists and advises Belgium’s justice authorities in carrying out their investigations.

Belgium has been on high alert since coordinated March 22 suicide bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and subway killed 32 people.
Multiple individuals rammed a van into the entrance of the Brussels National Institute of Criminology building, setting its laboratories on fire. No casualties have been reported. At least five people are arrested.