Brussels: Belgian police arrested a man on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp, a police chief said.

The man was of north African origin and used a car with French registration plates, Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said.

The incident came a day after an attack on the British parliament killed three people plus the attacker, as well as after the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people died.

‘A vehicle with French plates has tried to drive at high speed into the Meir (shopping street). A man in camouflage was taken away,’ Muyters told a news conference.

‘The pedestrians had to jump aside,’ he said.

‘My gratitude on behalf of all Antwerp to the soldiers who have intervened, the police services and the special intervention force,’ Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever tweeted.