Belgian shopping centre evacuated after robbery by men armed with Kalashnikovs in Chatelineau

Police find no link to terrorism after robbery at Cora centre, near Charleroi

Three masked men, armed with at least one Kalashnikov rifle, burst into a the Cora centre in Chatelineau

A gang of armed robbers are on the run in Belgium after sparking an evacuation at a shopping centre.

Police said three masked men, armed with at least one Kalashnikov rifle, burst into a jewellery shop at the Cora centre in Chatelineau, sparking panic among shoppers.

Eric de Brabander, the local poice commissioner, said “several armed individuals” fled after attacking the Histoire d'Or on Saturday morning.

He added that the robbers did not open fire and the incident was not believed to be terror-related, with no injuries reported in the heist.

Witnesses and officials, including the local mayor, initially reported gunshots but police said the sound of display cases being smashed had been confused with gunfire.

The area was evacuated and cordoned off by security forces, with the shopping centre later reopening.

It came days after a man with a knife held 15 people hostage in a supermarket in the Brussels suburb of Forest.

No one was harmed in the attack, which was reported to be part of a failed robbery attempt on Tuesday.

Belgium has been on high alert since November's Paris attacks, with several Isis militants preparing for the massacres in the country before members of the same terror cell attacked Brussels Airport and a Metro station in March.