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Man arrested trying to drive into crowd in Belgium's Antwerp: Police

BRUSSELS – A man who tried to drive at high speed into a shopping district in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Thursday (March 23) was a French national living in France with knives and other weapons in his car, prosecutors said.

In this Twitter photo from Anouk Frankly, police officers in Antwerp, Belgium, stand next to a car which had entered the main shopping street in the city at high speed. Photo: Reuters

In this Twitter photo from Anouk Frankly, police officers in Antwerp, Belgium, stand next to a car which had entered the main shopping street in the city at high speed. Photo: Reuters

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BRUSSELS – A man who tried to drive at high speed into a shopping district in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Thursday (March 23) was a French national living in France with knives and other weapons in his car, prosecutors said. 

The man was of north African origin and used a car with French registration plates, Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said.

The incident came a day after an attack on the British parliament killed three people plus the attacker, as well as after the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people died.

"A vehicle with French plates has tried to drive at high speed into the Meir (shopping street). A man in camouflage was taken away," Mr Muyters told a news conference.

"The pedestrians had to jump aside," he said.

"My gratitude on behalf of all Antwerp to the soldiers who have intervened, the police services and the special intervention force," Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever tweeted. AFP, REUTERS

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