Bomb alert in EU district in Brussels

BRUSSELS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A firm working for the European commission received a phone call on Tuesday morning at 10.30 am which claimed that a bomb was going to explode, said a spokeswoman for the Brussels-Ixelles Police, cited by Belga news agency.

"A security perimeter has been erected, firefighters and Police with dogs are present on site, and around 40 people have been evacuated," announced Police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere.

However, a reporter from Xinhua on the ground indicated that this was likely a false alert.

The situation around Schuman, where most European Union institutions are located, has returned to a state of normalcy.