Several attackers have rammed a car through the gates of Belgium’s national crime laboratory in Brussels and then started a fire in what prosecutors say may have been an attempt to destroy evidence.
Five people were arrested nearby and are being questioned, but there is no confirmed link to terrorism so far.
No one was injured in the fire or by a large explosion which shook houses nearby, the city’s prosecutors said.
“Several attackers forced their way into the institute using their car and were able to attack the building,” said Ine Van Wymersch, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor’s office.
“The possibility of a terrorist act is not confirmed. It goes without saying that several individuals may have wanted to destroy evidence related to their legal cases.”
The institute is part of Belgium’s federal justice system.
Among its tasks is to carry out scientific analyses linked to criminal cases and to study the functioning of the penal system.
The explosion occurred with Belgium on high alert after suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a metro station near the European Union headquarters on March 22, killing 32 people.
Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in Europe in recent months.