A truck carrying nearly ‘34,000 litres of chemicals’ is stolen in Belgium

A truck carrying nearly 34,000 litres of chemicals has been stolen in Belgium sparking a police hunt.

The trailer was taken from a transport firm based in Zedelgem overnight on Saturday.

Despite initial reports this morning, Interpol say they are not involved in a hunt for the missing vehicle, which is said to contain 33,500 litres of a chemical called radiacid 0254.

Belgium’s Federal Police confirmed to MailOnline that a truck had been stolen in Zedelgem and that it contained a chemical substance.

But a spokesman said that ‘as far as we know’ the substance ‘cannot be used as an explosive material’.

Prosecutors in Bruges added: ‘A transport company in Zedelgem was the victim of a theft of a semi-trailer overnight on January 20 to 21, 2018.

‘The semi-trailer was filled with 33,500 litres of radiacid 0254, a fatty acid and is not used as a precursor for explosives.’

Interpol, the world’s largest international police organisation with 192 members, told MailOnline it ‘has not issued any alert in relation to a truck stolen in Belgium’.

Italian media have reported that the number plate of the vehicle is 1-QEB-708.

Prosecutors in Bruges added: ‘A transport company in Zedelgem was the victim of a theft of a semi-trailer overnight on January 20 to 21, 2018.

‘The semi-trailer was filled with 33,500 litres of radiacid 0254, a fatty acid and is not used as a precursor for explosives.’

Interpol, the world’s largest international police organisation with 192 members, told MailOnline it ‘has not issued any alert in relation to a truck stolen in Belgium’.

Italian media have reported that the number plate of the vehicle is 1-QEB-708.

They would also be deployed at major gatherings, for example sporting events, Cauderlier said.

The threat has been at level three – ‘probable and likely’ – or higher since the smashing of a terror cell in the town of Verviers on January 2015 that was planning an attack on police.

The Verviers cell also had links to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the November 2015 ISIS attacks on Paris that killed 130 people.

Belgium further raised the terror level to four – signifying a ‘serious and imminent threat’ – after the Paris attack, and placed the capital Brussels on lockdown for a week.

It again raised the threat to four on March 22, 23 and 24, 2016, after ISIS suicide attacks on Brussels airport and a metro station which killed 32 people.

Source: Daily Mail