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After four days of lockdown in Brussels, schools and most of the city's metro system reopened Wednesday as commuters cautiously returned to work.
Brussels remains at its highest state of alert, but for the first time in five days the city's underground metro system is back in operation, even if some stations remain closed.
Schools also re-opened with 500 additional police officers deployed for security. Student attendance was low. The mood among parents remains uneasy.
"On the one hand, I have complete trust in the school because I know the team is very well-together, so I have complete trust in them. But on the other hand, I question the decisions taken by the government because it's incoherent. As a parent, and a citizen, that makes me question why close schools, why re-open them today We don't have coherent information," said Sandrine Masure, a mother.
Across Brussels, businesses also started re-opening. The lifting of restrictions comes after a four-day lockdown that affected everything from shopping centers and markets to concerts and sporting events.
"It seems rather surreal on a day to day basis. Of course, it's affected us, the city and the whole lockdown and what's been happening and the supermarkets have got their guards standing outside and our children see this, and so we have to explain to them what's going on," said Rozina Spinnoy, creative director, D2S.
Belgian police have so far charged five people with terrorism offenses relating to the Paris attacks.
But one of the suspected Paris gunmen and an accomplice believed to be hiding in Brussels have so far evaded capture, as have the people that security services believe are plotting imminent attacks in the Belgian capital. Until they are found, the city's alert level could remain at its highest level, with troops and police continuing to patrol the streets.
中国公共新闻网摘编：GAN JADE |
