Wednesday 14 December 2011

5 dead, scores injured in Belgium grenade, gun attack

A grenade and gun attack within this eastern Belgian city left five people dead, such as attacker, and 119 wounded Tuesday, authorities said.



If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

A 23-month-old baby died in a very hospital late Tuesday after being wounded inside the attack near a Christmas market in a city center square, said Katrin Delcourt, a spokeswoman for your Liege provincial governor's office. Others killed in the attack included two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, plus a 75-year-old woman, Liege public prosecutor Danielle Reynders told reporters.

Some 52 everyone was treated for injuries by medics at the field hospital create nearby the scene, the prosecutor said, while some went to hospitals in your neighborhood.

Police fear the death toll will rise overnight, a spokeswoman for Liege police said.

The attacker was defined as Nordine Amrani, 33, of Liege, Reynders said.

He died inside the attack through which he hurled three grenades and fired weapons from a rooftop into the crowded square near a court building, she said.
Belgium attack witness saw carnage

The guy acted alone inside attack in position St. Lambert, and information not looking for other suspects, she said, adding which he had left his home with a pistol, a semi-automatic rifle as well as the grenades as part of his bag.

Police had asked the attacker, who had previously been previously convicted on drugs and weapons offenses, to come looking for interviews in a ongoing investigation, the prosecutor said. He never been arrested for terror offenses.

Reynders said officials weren't yet in a position to explain the motive to the attack.

Delcourt, the spokeswoman to the provincial governor's office, told CNN that Amrani was on conditional parole. She couldn't give details of the police investigation.

It remained unclear whether he'd committed suicide or passed away when one of several grenades exploded as part of his face, she said.

Among the weapons he'd, the light automatic rifle, is really a standard-issue weapon inside Belgian army, Delcourt said.

A senior Belgian security source, who may have been briefed on the investigation but did not desire to be named while he had not been authorized to speak with the media, told CNN that Amrani's police meeting scheduled Tuesday was for suspected rape.

Amrani was with an elevated walkway across the square when he soon started throwing grenades down into the group and after that firing, before shooting himself inside the head with his revolver, the foundation said.

Amrani was once in prison on drugs and arms racketeering charges, the source said, being caught cultivating "several thousand" cannabis plants.

Authorities will carry out an autopsy in part to find out if he was under influence of medicine through the attack, which has shocked the continent and its security service, the source said.

He stated that during Amrani's 40 months in jail, he was not diagnosed with any mental disorder or seen to be politicized before being released on conditional parole. The origin said authorities have discovered no ties to Islamist terrorism.

Liege resident Kevin Hauzeur told CNN which he ducked for cover because he heard a "huge explosion and 2 or three gunshots" inside city center.

A number of people were in the region at that time to buy at the Christmas market, Hauzeur said. Everyone else was "spinning around, crying -- it had been really chaotic," he stated.

He stated he seen what were the body of the attacker before police cleared everyone from the area. Police told him the guy had shot himself, Hauzeur said.

A CNN correspondent on the scene Tuesday evening said lots of police in fluorescent jackets remained within the cordoned-off square nonetheless it was otherwise deserted.

Municipal cleaning vehicles sprayed the central market area with water, he said, overseen by way of a large Christmas tree, which remained illuminated.

Oliver Moch, a spokesman for that Citadelle hospital, the biggest inside Liege area, said 31 people injured within the attack had been admitted for treatment there.

The Belgian Red Cross also stood a team on-page in Liege, operations director Gregory Jones told CNN earlier. It was providing psychological support.

King Albert II and Queen Paola went along to Liege to meet the mayor, provincial governor and workers with the Red Cross and emergency services following attack, the Belgian royal palace told CNN.

Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo also traveled to Liege, his spokesman said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague issued an announcement saying: "There may be zero location for appalling acts of violence similar to this in any society, i condemn this attack in the strongest terms."

Charles Boisoin, whose apartment overlooks the town center, told CNN shortly after the attack that they and his neighbors ended up instructed by police not to leave their homes. The location center was virtually deserted and many types of he could hear and find out were helicopters flying overhead, he was quoted saying.

Television footage and images in the scene showed blood about the sidewalk, as well as law enforcement officers and vehicles gathered nearby.

The provincial governor's office initially declared police were searching for no less than one suspect.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

Liege is Belgium's third-largest city, after Brussels and Antwerp, the national tourist office says. Going back centuries, it is an important cultural and industrial center for your country.

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