Grand Mosque of Brussels evacuated over anthrax alert

A civil protection squad has decontaminated several people as a precaution at the main Brussels mosque after a suspicious parcel arrived.

This comes hours after envelopes containing unknown powder at a mosque in Brussels today prompted an evacuation of the building. “We are taking all preventative measures in case it is anthrax but it is a precautionary measure”, fire services spokeswomen Anne Wibin said earlier. A police spokesman later said the substance was flour.

Multiple threats against mosques across the European nation by a group calling themselves Christian State have occurred since the November 13 Paris Attacks by ISIS militants from France and Belgium. The Grand Mosque of Brussels had been evacuated following the discovery of the package. “People in direct contact were isolated and decontaminated and also those who were in indirect contact”. “There is absolutely no danger to anyone”, a fire fighter on the scene told La Libre.

“I’ve been speaking to the staff on the telephone and was told the imam found the package”, said Mohamed Dahmichi, standing across the street. “With everything that is happening in Brussels at the moment, I’m afraid to leave the house”, he told AFP.

Belgium, specifically Brussels, has been on “high alert” since the terrorist attacks that rocked Paris on November 13. “There was the letter at the mosque in Molenbeek too and now this”, he added.

Firefighters, decontamination teams and police officials responded to the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium, a Saudi-established institution and mosque about 700 feet from the headquarters of the European Union, according to Reuters.

The Belgian capital was in lockdown earlier this week after it was put on the highest terror alert level, which is still in place.