Fatal gun attack at Jewish museum
- Anti-Semitism 'on rise in Europe'
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Belgium country profile
24 May 2014
Last updated at 18:45 GMT
Brussels fatal gun attack at Jewish museum
Police have cordoned off the area but will not confirm if the gunman is still being pursued, as Duncan Crawford reports from the sceneA gunman has shot dead two men and a woman at the Jewish Museum in the Belgian capital Brussels.A fourth person was seriously wounded, emergency services said.
The attacker arrived by car, got out, fired on people at the museum entrance, and returned to the vehicle which then sped away, Belgian media report.
Security has been tightened at Jewish sites across Belgium and PM Elio Di Rupo has said everything is being done to arrest those behind the attack.
All Belgians are "united and show solidarity in the face of this odious attack on a Jewish cultural site", he has told reporters.
Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, who was one of the first people to arrive at the scene, said he was shocked by the shooting.
"I heard bursts of gunfire, rushed here and saw the bodies on the ground," he said.
The gunman arrived at the museum at around 15:50 (13:50 GMT) carrying a backpack and opened fire before fleeing in an Audi, local media report.
They say one eyewitness may have made a note of the number plate and given it to police.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said three men and a woman had been caught up in what he thought was probably a "terrorist act". "It's clearly extremely serious," he was quoted as saying, "and on the Jewish Museum too, which isn't a coincidence".Belgium's interior minister said all the circumstances pointed to an anti-Semitic attack
Eyewitness Alain Sobotik told AFP news agency he had seen two bodies in the lobby of the museum.
One was "a young woman with her head covered in blood", he said. "She was holding a leaflet and looked like a tourist."
Interior Minister Joelle Milquet said everything pointed to an anti-Semitic attack.
Belgium has a Jewish population of some 42,000, about half of whom live in the capital.Foreign Minister Didier Reynders: "I ran to the museum and I saw two people on the ground."
Jewish community leader Julien Klener agreed the motive was probably anti-Semitic: "the assumption, and it is an assumption, is that it was someone who didn't try to target the museum but the adjective 'Jewish'".
A number of people were treated for shock after the shooting in the central Sablon area of the city.
Mr Di Rupo expressed his condolences and support for the victims' families.
Are you in the area? Did you witness the gun attack? You can can send us your comments by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Brussels".
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