BELGIAN authorities say they have foiled a terror attack after soldiers shot dead a suspect following a small explosion at a busy Brussels train station.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said soldiers “neutralised” a male suspect at Central Station immediately after the explosion on Tuesday night.

The man lay still for several hours while a bomb squad checked whether he was armed with more explosives.

Prosecutor’s spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch confirmed his death and said no other explosives were found on his body. Some Belgian media had reported earlier that the suspect was wearing a bomb belt.

Belgium’s Crisis Centre, which monitors security threats in the country, said it did not see a need to raise the country’s terror threat to the highest level and kept it at the second-highest mark.

Authorities set up a wide perimeter around the station near the city’s famed Grand Place square.

Mr Van der Sypt said no one else was injured and the damage from the explosion was limited. The attack happened at around 8.30pm, well after the evening rush hour.

Nicolas Van Herreweghen, who works for Belgium’s national rail company, said the male suspect was very agitated, yelling about jihadists and then “Allahu akbar”, Arabic for “God is great”, before blowing up something on a baggage trolley.

He said the man appeared to be aged 30 to 35.

The government agency that owns Belgium’s railways was warned by a train driver who saw people running across the rail lines inside the station, spokesman Arnaud Reymann told broadcaster RTL.

National newspaper La Libre Belgique quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying the suspect was wearing a backpack and an explosive belt. Photos posted on social media showed a small fire in the station.

Central Station is one of the busiest in the nation and soldiers could be seen patrolling there after the explosion. It was evacuated along with the Belgian capital’s Grand Place, a major tourist site about 600ft away.

Rail company spokeswoman Elisa Roux said trains were diverted from the station and buses sent to take passengers.

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Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people on the Brussels subway and at an airport in March last year. Extra police and soldiers have become a common sight in crowded areas.

There have also been attacks in Paris and London in recent days, including one by a van driver who apparently tried to run down worshippers outside a London mosque.