US embassy evacuated after Brussels bomb scare

BRUSSELS: The US embassy and several Belgian government offices were evacuated Wednesday after police found a suspect vehicle nearby and called in the bomb squad, officials said.

A US spokesman said staff from the embassy as well as the US mission to the European Union left the building early afternoon after police informed them of the suspect vehicle.

"It is correct," spokesman Viktor Sadabras of the US mission to the EU said when asked about reports of the evacuation.

Police said the US action was taken independently as a precaution while authorities ordered the evacuation of Belgian government offices in the area in central Brussels.