[1/6]People work at the scene of a shooting while Belgian police secure the area, in Brussels, Belgium, October 16, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Giron Obtaining licensing rights
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Two people with Swedish citizenship were shot dead in Brussels, Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieus said on Monday.
The newspaper said they were likely football fans. Belgium will host Sweden in the 2024 European Championship qualifiers on Monday evening.
A police spokesman confirmed that two people were killed in a shooting incident near the center of the Belgian capital, but declined to provide further details.
A spokesman for Brussels prosecutors, who are handling the case, also declined to provide any details regarding the victims or any possible motive.
Video footage published on the website of the newspaper Het Laaste Niews showed a man wearing an orange jacket on a motorcycle at a street intersection with a rifle, firing first two bullets, then three more, then running into a building, firing two more bullets, leaving, taking a few steps back again and firing. Fire again.
A Belgian newspaper reported that a witness said the shooter shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire.
(This story has been corrected to say police confirmed two people were killed in the shooting, in paragraph 3)
Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Editing by Hugh Lawson and Matthew Lewis
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