BRUSSELS — Bertrand Michou did not see or hear the explosions that ripped through a Metro station 100 metres from his sandwich shop.
But he felt “the tremors” from Tuesday’s blast and observed “la panique” that ensued as hundreds of people “ran from every direction” in the maze of gleaming steel and glass office towers of the European Union in the heart of the Belgian capital.
The terrorists’ goal was to paralyze and terrorize Brussels. Two days later, they continue to have succeeded. There is something like a state of siege here, especially in predominately Arab districts as soldiers and police in combat gear search frantically for accomplices.
On Thursday, six people were detained in police raids in central Brussels, Jette and the Schaerbeek neighbourhood.
