Grenade attack carnage at Belgian Xmas market
Source: Agencies |
December 14, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A MAN armed with hand grenades and guns opened fire in a crowded square in a Belgian city yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding 75 others.
Officials said the man who attacked shoppers in Liege in an area hosting a Christmas market had served time in jail for offenses involving guns, drugs and sexual abuse. They say he was on his way for police questioning when he launched the attack.
Liege Prosecutor Danielle Reynders said the man threw three grenades and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of the gunman and three other people - a 15-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 75-year-old woman. Seventy-five people were wounded. La Libre Belgique newspaper reported that a 2-year-old girl was clinging to life.
The gunman, named as Nordine Amrani, 33, began his attack near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping area and the site of the city's annual Christmas market and its main courthouse.
He ended by shooting himself in the head with a handgun, witnesses said.
Earlier media reports had said as many as three men had launched the midday attack, which left blood splattered across the cobblestone streets of the square where people were doing Christmas shopping.
Footage from the scene showed people, including a large group of children, fleeing from the city center, some still carrying shopping bags.
As police helicopters and ambulances raced to the scene, the Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported that residents were ordered stay in their homes or seek shelter in shops or public buildings.
Radio Television Belge Francophone said all buses had been asked to leave the city center and all shops in the area were closed, some with customers still inside.
A medical post was set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops courthouse at the site. Emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.
Witness Herve Taveirne said: "We were in the courthouse building and were just leaving when we saw someone toss a grenade. I grabbed a little boy and took him back into the courthouse. Outside the building I heard shooting. Our lives were in danger. This man was shooting in any direction. We ran for our lives at that point."
Television channel La Une said the attack included the assailant opening fire on a bus with a Kalashnikov.
Reports said the attack began with the man throwing grenades at a bus shelter in Place Saint-Lambert.
The area is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets. The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege's annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.
Officials said the man who attacked shoppers in Liege in an area hosting a Christmas market had served time in jail for offenses involving guns, drugs and sexual abuse. They say he was on his way for police questioning when he launched the attack.
Liege Prosecutor Danielle Reynders said the man threw three grenades and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of the gunman and three other people - a 15-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 75-year-old woman. Seventy-five people were wounded. La Libre Belgique newspaper reported that a 2-year-old girl was clinging to life.
The gunman, named as Nordine Amrani, 33, began his attack near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping area and the site of the city's annual Christmas market and its main courthouse.
He ended by shooting himself in the head with a handgun, witnesses said.
Earlier media reports had said as many as three men had launched the midday attack, which left blood splattered across the cobblestone streets of the square where people were doing Christmas shopping.
Footage from the scene showed people, including a large group of children, fleeing from the city center, some still carrying shopping bags.
As police helicopters and ambulances raced to the scene, the Belgian public broadcaster VRT reported that residents were ordered stay in their homes or seek shelter in shops or public buildings.
Radio Television Belge Francophone said all buses had been asked to leave the city center and all shops in the area were closed, some with customers still inside.
A medical post was set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops courthouse at the site. Emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.
Witness Herve Taveirne said: "We were in the courthouse building and were just leaving when we saw someone toss a grenade. I grabbed a little boy and took him back into the courthouse. Outside the building I heard shooting. Our lives were in danger. This man was shooting in any direction. We ran for our lives at that point."
Television channel La Une said the attack included the assailant opening fire on a bus with a Kalashnikov.
Reports said the attack began with the man throwing grenades at a bus shelter in Place Saint-Lambert.
The area is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets. The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege's annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.
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