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EU Parliament evacuated as police check suspicious car

Two Belgian soldiers patrol outside EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. The Belgian Army is patrolling key sites in Belgium as a safety precaution against potential terrorist threats. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) Two Belgian soldiers patrol outside EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. The Belgian Army is patrolling key sites in Belgium as a safety precaution against potential terrorist threats. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

By Associated Press February 2, 2015 1 min read

BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian police have evacuated hundreds of people from the European Parliament after a suspicious vehicle was spotted nearby.

Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot said Monday that “police evacuated three of the parliament’s buildings” in Brussels and cordoned off a suspicious car. Belgian media showed a photograph of a police robot moving toward a vehicle in a nearby street.

Duch Guillot said about 500 people were evacuated but two of the three buildings, used only for administrative purposes, have since been declared safe.

Belgium has been on high alert since the Jan. 7-9 Paris terror attacks and a series of police raids on suspected foreign fighters in Belgium and France last month.