The suspicious powder found at Brussels’ Grand Mosque on Thursday is not a chemical or nuclear substance, a spokesman for Brussels Fire Brigade and Emergency Medical Services told CNN.
No one who came into contact with the substance has shown any adverse symptoms, he said.
A person in charge of mail at the mosque opened one envelope containing the white material around 12:30 p.m. and, following safety procedures for anthrax, immediately contacted authorities, the official said. Four ambulances responded.
Seven people were in the room when the mail was opened and they were treated in a way that helped to ensure they were decontaminated from any potential harmful substance.
Ten envelopes with white powder were found, and analysts are examining the substance, said Christian De Coninck, spokesman for Brussels police. Medical personnel are evaluating at least 11 people whom came in contact with the envelopes, he said.
The news of the white powder at the mosque came amid heightened security in Brussels in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
Brussels remains at the highest terror alert level, and much of the city has been shut down for the last several days.
Police in Belgium have conducted several raids connected to the terror attacks. Investigators have focused particular attention on a Brussels suburb, Molenbeek, with a history of links to terrorism.
One of the suspected Paris attackers who is still at large, Salah Abdeslam, is believed to have returned to the scene of the massacres in the French capital while the chaos was still unfolding, authorities have said. Investigators reportedly tracked his cell phone to the area.
More than a week after the attacks, investigators discovered what they believe may be a suicide vest in a garbage can in a Paris suburb.
The question is whether the item found was supposed to have been used by Abdeslam.
Abdeslam is thought to be using a support network in Belgium to avoid being captured. There’s an international arrest warrant out for him.
Sources in France close to the ongoing investigation believe Abdeslam could not have survived this long without help.