Shooting in Brussels metro

Brussels police were searching for two armed suspects in the metro tunnels, Reuters reported, citing Belgian sources. According to a statement from the Belgian prosecutor's office, the shooting, which left two suspects injured and fled, was related to a drug case.

Footage released by VRT television showed two men entering the Clemenceau metro station in central Brussels and opening fire. The station, along with several other stations in the Belgian capital, was closed after the incident.

The incident paralyzed traffic on the Brussels metro system, which hosts many European Union institutions and the headquarters of NATO. Clemenceau station is close to the main Brussels Midi train station, the arrival point for Eurostar trains from Paris and London.

Sarah Frederickx, of the Brussels South Local Police Service, said: "We are looking for several suspects. It is a small group, possibly two or three people.

“They are possibly still armed, and we don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. We understand that this is a far-reaching measure taken at a difficult time of the day. We will reopen the tunnels as quickly as possible”.

Thousands of Belgians are facing travel delays as two major Metro lines were closed off during the manhunt on Wednesday.

“South Station is the busiest station on the network and there are also a lot of commuters that arrive there by train and take the metro there. As a result of this, the impact is major. We don’t know how long it will go on for,” public transport company MIVB’s spokesperson Guy Sablon said.