Four killed, 75 injured in Belgium grenade, shooting attack

Three people were killed and 75 were injured in the Belgian town of Liege on Tuesday, after a man hurled grenades and fired into a crowd before taking his own life.

The gunman, identified as Nordine Amrani, 33, shot himself after the attack at a Christmas market on Saint-Lambert square at around 12.30(1130 GMT).

One of the victims, a 15-year-old boy died at the scene, while a 17-year-oldboy and a 75-year-old woman died in hospital, Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders said.

"There are several seriously injured people," Daniel Ransart, director of the Citadel Hospital, told the RTBF public broadcaster.

A 2-year-old boy was fighting for his life in hospital, the Belga news agency reported.

Reynders said prior to the attack Amrani had failed to show up at a police station on where he had been called in for questioning on Tuesday.

Media reports said he was convicted in 2008 of illegal possession of firearms and running a cannabis plantation.

Amrani's car was found near the scene and blown up by special police forces. Authorities said he had acted alone and dismissed media speculation that a terrorist organization may have been behind the attack or that it was related to court proceedings in the nearby Justice Palace.

King Albert II, Queen Paola, Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and Interior Minister Joelle Milquet interrupted an official engagement in Brussels to travel to Liege.

Di Rupo, in a statement, said he was "horrified to learn about the terrible events" and that his first thoughts were of the victims, their families and the people of Liege.

The city, about 100 kilometres south-east of Brussels, is the largest metropolitan area in the French-speaking region of Wallonia. \\\\DPA