Third day of lockdown for Belgian capital

Belgian national Salah Abdeslam – who is widely suspected as the architect of the 13 November attacks which left 130 victims and 7 perpetrators dead in the French capital – is still wanted and on the run, authorities said.

Schools and universities remained closed, as well as many museums, shops and cinemas.

The city’s metro and underground tram network was not operating, and there were reports of unusually heavy traffic in parts of the capital as the city’s one million residents put a strain on the roads.

Soldiers were still patrolling the streets, Reuters reported, with heavy concentrations outside NATO and European Union buildings, which remained operational.

Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, warned residents that the threat of an attack was serious and imminent.

“What we fear is an attack similar to the one in Paris, with several individuals who could possibly launch several attacks at the same time in multiple locations”, Michel told assembled media.

Officials had been working to quash the threat, with 19 raids conducted across Brussels on Sunday night netting at least 16 arrests.

“Abdeslam Salah was not found during the raids”, Belgium public prosecutor Eric van der Sypt told media on Monday morning.

It was the third day of lockdown in Brussels, although politicians were keen to instil as much of a sense of normalcy as possible during the time.

“Apart from the closed metro and schools, life goes on in Brussels”, Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon told RTL Radio on Monday.

“The public sector is open for business today, many companies are open.”

Local markets moved little in reaction to the lockdown, with the Euronext BEL20 down 0.02% at 3701.74 as of 10.23 on Monday.