Brussels subway system shut down

BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian authorities closed down Brussels’ subway system and flooded the streets with armed police and soldiers Saturday in response to what they said was a threat of Paris-style attacks.

The decision to raise the threat alert to the highest level in the Belgian capital came as the manhunt continued for a suspect missing since the carnage in neighboring France. It was taken “based on quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris,” said Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel.

The tip authorities received suggested that an attack would involve “several individuals with arms and explosives launch actions, perhaps even in several places at the same time,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Belgium urged Americans in the country “to shelter in place and remain at home” while the U.S. European Command issued a 72-hour travel restriction for U.S. military personnel on travel to Brussels – a city of more than 1 million that is home to the headquarters of the European Union, the NATO alliance and offices of many multinational corporations.

On Saturday night, a relative calm descended on the city center, where restaurants and beer bars would usually be teeming with business. On Brussels’ central square, the Grand Place, tourists snapped selfies as a green army truck full of soldiers pulled up next to a lit Christmas tree. Some restaurants and bars shuttered their doors, while others remained open, defying advice from the mayor to close for the night.