Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading

Van strikes Brussels cafe, unclear if attack or accident

Members of emergency services work at the site where a van drove into a cafe terrace in central Brussels, Belgium, August 26, 2022. Pompiers de Bruxelles - Brandweer Brussel/Handout via REUTERS

A van struck a cafe terrace in central Brussels on Friday, leaving six people needing treatment for light injuries and shock and investigators trying to determine whether it was an attack or an accident.

The driver fled in the vehicle after the incident shortly before 1 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) and was arrested in the northern city of Antwerp later in the afternoon, Brussels prosecutors told a news conference. His van had earlier been found abandoned in a nearby Brussels district.

"The facts of course make you think of attacks as have happened in the past, but this is not the only possibility we are considering. It is also possible that it was just an accident," a Brussels prosecution spokesperson said.

Damage is seen at the site where a van drove into a cafe terrace in central Brussels, Belgium, August 26, 2022. Pompiers de Bruxelles - Brandweer Brussel/Handout via REUTERS

None of the injured people needed to be taken to hospital.

One witnesses told Belgian media that the van entered Rue Saint-Michel, which leads into a busy shopping area, with tyres screeching and headed away at high speed.

Video footage of the incident on social media showed the white van indeed travelling quickly and veering wildly, but only brushing the side of the cafe terrace and not obviously targeting people.

Damage is seen at the site where a van drove into a cafe terrace in central Brussels, Belgium, August 26, 2022. Pompiers de Bruxelles - Brandweer Brussel/Handout via REUTERS

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer; Editing by John Chalmers)

Members of emergency services work at the site where a van drove into a cafe terrace in central Brussels, Belgium, August 26, 2022. Pompiers de Bruxelles - Brandweer Brussel/Handout via REUTERS
Members of emergency services work at the site where a van drove into a cafe terrace in central Brussels, Belgium, August 26, 2022. Pompiers de Bruxelles - Brandweer Brussel/Handout via REUTERS
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.