Brussels metro station hit by explosion following airport blasts

Blasts rock Brussels metro stations — (Image credit: Twitter/‏@EUPublicAffairs)

Soon after twin explosions rattled Zaventem airport in Brussels on Monday morning, another explosion hit a metro station near European Union offices in the Belgian capital. Police have not said if there are any casualties from the blast at the Maelbeek station, but authorities have closed down the city's entire metro, bus, and tram systems and raised the nation's terrorism threat system to its highest level.

The explosions come four days after Belgian authorities arrested Salah Abdeslam, the main surviving suspect from the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. On Monday, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon had said the country was on high alert for some sort of retaliatory strike. "We know that stopping one cell can... push others into action," he told Belgian public radio. "We are aware of it in this case."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.