Security reinforced outside several Brussels media outlets: reports

Security was reinforced outside the headquarters of several media outlets in the Brussels region on Sunday afternoon, according to local media and eyewitnesses.

The headquarters of Medialaan, a Flemish broadcaster which owns one of the country's main commercial radio stations, Q-Music, was evacuated in a bomb alert, L'Echo newspaper reported. Medialaan is headquartered in Vilvorde, the northern suburb of Brussels.

The newspaper said sniffer dogs were on the scene searching for explosives. Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said staff at Medialaan were told by police to seek refuge in a nearby sports centre.

A mine-clearing robot was also deployed to search a car with French licence plate which had been parked for several days outside a nearby church, L'Echo added.

Meanwhile, Christophe Giltay, a reporter for the French-language broadcaster RTL, posted a photo on Twitter showing police and military had been deployed outside the offices of RTL in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek.

Some companies have encouraged employees work from home on Monday, RTBF reported. They include Belfius, one of the main Belgian retail banks, which sent an SMS to 2,200 staff asking them to postpone any meetings at the company's Brussels headquarters and consider remote working. Endit