BRUSSELS (AFP) – Letters containing a toxic powder were sent to at least three government buildings in Brussels, Belgian prosecutors said on Friday, adding that no injuries were reported.
Police and fire services were scrambled after the letters were found at the State Justice Building, the nearby Justice Minister’s office and the Palace of Justice building a few kilometres away.
“People who came into contact with the powder were isolated and examined. Nobody was injured,” the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
A preliminary investigation identified the powder as brucine – a toxic alkaloid closely related to the even more toxic strychnine, which is sometimes used as a pesticide.
“This substance is actually only dangerous when ingested. Contact with the skin poses no danger,” prosecutors added.
An intense probe was launched to hunt the senders of the envelopes, but prosecutors added that the incident was not connected to a number of drug-related shootings which put the city on edge this week.
