A Belgian shopping centre was evacuated this morning after three masked robbers, armed with at least one Kalashnikov rifle, burst into a jewellery store in Chatelineau, 50km south of Brussels.
Police escorted dozens of shoppers out of the Cora mall, some of whom confused the sound of glass jewellery display cases being smashed with that of gunfire, police commissioner Eric De Brabander said.
No shots were fired and no one was injured in the heist, he added. The robbers escaped.
Earlier, Mayor Daniel Vanderlick told the local RTL News that gunshots had been fired with a Kalashnikov.
There was no suggestion from police that the incident had militant links.
Suicide attacks claimed by militants from the so-called Islamic State group killed 32 people in Brussels in March.
