Belgium culturally enriched in Gun and Grenade attack

A gunman has opened fire in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege, killing at least three people and wounding 64 including a toddler, media say. The man also threw grenades into a crowded square from a rooftop before killing himself, reports say.

The attacker was named as Nordine Amrani. He was known to police for firearms and drug offences.

Earlier reports said at least two more men were involved, but city officials said the attacker acted alone. The public prosecutor said terrorism was not a cause. Amrani was jailed for 58 months in September 2008 for possessing firearms, media reports said. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones of Place Saint Lambert, where the attack happened.

Doctors at a city hospital are trying to save the life of an 18-month-old boy injured in the attack. At least six others are reported to be in a serious condition. Medical staff are also said to be attending to some of the injured in the courthouse.

Greg Ienco, a journalist at local newspaper La Meuse-Liège, described the scene. "We saw four explosions. I was in a building 200m from Saint Lambert Square," he said. "It was quite incredible. We saw one man on the roof who tried to kill people. This man killed himself with a grenade."

Roads into the centre were sealed off but vehicles are now coming back into the city. Police helicopters are hovering overhead and explosives experts have gone to investigate the scene. People were initially told to stay in buildings but are now returning to the streets.

Place Saint Lambert is a busy intersection, served by hundreds of buses daily. It hosts an annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

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Funny how, with the dead still warm that they KNOW it wasn't terrorism. They have a very distorted idea of what constitutes terrorism in Belgium. A man shooting Christmas shoppers from a rooftop and hurling grenades into the crowds below sounds pretty fucking terrifying to me....

Pip pip