Six killed including 18-month-old girl and 123 hurt as career criminal hurls grenades into Christmas shoppers in Belgian city of Liege
By Peter AllenLast updated at 10:50 PM on 13th December 2011
15-year-old boy, 17-year-old girl and 20-year-old man also among the dead
- Killer named as Nordine Amrani, convicted sex attacker and drug dealer
- Attacker used a pistol, a rifle and hand grenades
The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman, named as career criminal Nordine Amrani, 33, opened fire.
The dead included an 18-month old girl who lost her fight for survival in hospital this evening. Other victims included a 15-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl, a 20-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman were confirmed as the other victims.
Police said tonight that the killer was a convicted sex attacker and drug dealer, who had recently been released from prison.
Panic: Shoppers flee after a gunman threw grenades into crowds of shoppers at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium
Victim: Medics treat one of the many injured in the grenade attack in Liege as police search for what was initially believed to be a gang of gunmen
Reports said Amrani used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.
In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.
Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city's Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.
Gaspard Grosjean, a journalist for local Liege newspaper La Meuse, ran over to the square just after the attack, shortly after 12.30pm.
Stopped in his tracks: A body, thought to be gunman Nordine Amrani, lies on the pavement, close to a gun and full clips of ammunition. There were conflicting reports over whether Amrani killed himself or was killed by a grenade
A body on a roof overlooking the square in Liege is believed to be that of attacker Nordine Amrani, a convicted sex attacker and drug dealer
Police officers surround a dead body at the Place Saint Lambert square
Shoppers flee as police officers try to find the attacker. At least 75 people were injured
Fear: Armed police in Liege on the hunt for the gunman
'I see people completely scared, people are crying, everyone is on their phones.'
Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city. The nation's King and Queen also arrived on the city this evening to visit survivors.
David Cameron passed on Britain’s sympathies tonight.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister called Belgian Prime Minister Di Rupo this evening to pass on his sympathy in the wake of the appalling attacks in Liege.
'He said that his thoughts and those of very many people in Britain were with all those involved.'
Interior Ministry official Peter Mertens said emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands.
The broadcaster Radio Television Belge Francophone said during the attack that all buses had been asked to leave the city centre and all shops in the area were closed, some with many customers stranded inside.
It said police helicopters were flying over the city and a medical post has been set up in the courtyard of the palace of the Prince Bishops (the court house) located on the site.
Rescuers evacuate injured people at the Place Saint Lambert square
Police warned residents to stay in their homes or seek shelter in shops
Emergency medical teams were called in from as far away as the Netherlands
Belgium's King Alert II, centre, and his wife Queen Paola arrived in Liege last night to visit the injured
Place Saint-Lambert is a busy crossroads. Every day 1,800 buses serve the square, which leads to downtown shopping streets.
The Place Saint-Lambert and the nearby Place du Marche host Liege's annual Christmas market which consists of 200 retail cabins and attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.
'THIS GUY WAS WEAPONS MAD'
Nordine Amrani was a career criminal who was recently released from prison early for keeping an ‘arsenal’ of weapons in his cramped council flat, it emerged tonight.
The revelation will lead to critics of Belgium’s notoriously liberal criminal justice system questioning why he had been allowed back on the streets.
‘This guy was weapons-mad,’ said a police source. ‘He knew his weapons inside out, and was always tinkering with them at home.
‘He came straight out of prison, got hold of more guns and hand-grenades, and went on the rampage.’
Amrani was sentenced to just under five years in prison in September 2008 for keeping 10 complete firearms, and an astonishing 9500 gun parts in his flat, along with 2800 cannabis plants nearby.
Yet, just over three years later, he had been released and left unsupervised, allowing him to build up another arsenal.
Neighbours on Amrani’s estate in the suburb of Leige would often see him driving around in a white van – a vehicle which was found near the spot where he died.
The police source said Amrani’s rucksack was ‘full of grenades’, with many remaining unused after he pulled the pins out of just three.
The source said Amrani, who came from a North African immigrant background, also had convictions for drug dealing, handling stolen goods and sex abuse.
‘Amrani was well-known to us, but was never linked to any terrorist group,’ said the source.
Prosecutor Mrs Reynders said: ‘At no moment in any of the judicial proceedings against him was there any sign of him being mentally disturbed.’
She said that he had been wearing military combat fatigues today. Referring to a judicial enquiry which has been launched, Mrs Reynders added: ‘The inquiry will determine whether he acted deliberately or whether the equipment he was carrying caused his death.’
The revelation will lead to critics of Belgium’s notoriously liberal criminal justice system questioning why he had been allowed back on the streets.
‘This guy was weapons-mad,’ said a police source. ‘He knew his weapons inside out, and was always tinkering with them at home.
‘He came straight out of prison, got hold of more guns and hand-grenades, and went on the rampage.’
Amrani was sentenced to just under five years in prison in September 2008 for keeping 10 complete firearms, and an astonishing 9500 gun parts in his flat, along with 2800 cannabis plants nearby.
Yet, just over three years later, he had been released and left unsupervised, allowing him to build up another arsenal.
Neighbours on Amrani’s estate in the suburb of Leige would often see him driving around in a white van – a vehicle which was found near the spot where he died.
The police source said Amrani’s rucksack was ‘full of grenades’, with many remaining unused after he pulled the pins out of just three.
The source said Amrani, who came from a North African immigrant background, also had convictions for drug dealing, handling stolen goods and sex abuse.
‘Amrani was well-known to us, but was never linked to any terrorist group,’ said the source.
Prosecutor Mrs Reynders said: ‘At no moment in any of the judicial proceedings against him was there any sign of him being mentally disturbed.’
She said that he had been wearing military combat fatigues today. Referring to a judicial enquiry which has been launched, Mrs Reynders added: ‘The inquiry will determine whether he acted deliberately or whether the equipment he was carrying caused his death.’
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