An “attack” was probably avoided this Saturday in La Panne, on the Belgian coast, where an armed man was arrested near the theater which hosted the election of Miss Belgium 2023 in the evening, announced the federal prosecutor’s office.
Around 5:30 p.m. a man in his forties was arrested “very close to there” in possession of a firearm, Eric van der Sijpt, spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, told AFP. Another firearm was later discovered in his car, according to the spokesperson. “We are not saying anything at this stage about the motivations, that will be the subject of the investigation”, but “we probably avoided an attack”, added Eric van der Sijpt, according to whom hundreds of people were expected for this event.
A relative would have given the alert
The first arrivals for the event scheduled for 8:30 p.m. were banned from entering the theater until the police could inspect the premises, the Belga agency reported. The ceremony was nevertheless able to take place, starting about an hour late.
According to Flemish media, the suspect drove a rental car from the province of Limburg (east) where he resides. A person close to him would have warned the police, allowing the arrest.