The body of a woman has been found at the warehouse of a convicted Belgian gun fanatic who killed five people, including himself, in a grenade attack on Christmas shoppers.
Officers discovered the woman’s body while searching the home of 33-year-old Nordine Amrani, who hurled grenades near a bus stop and sprayed gunfire at crowds near Place Saint Lambert in Liege.
Officials said Amrani acted alone before turning a gun on himself.
The dead woman, aged 45, reportedly worked as a cleaner for a neighbour of Amrani, the regional press group SudPresse said.
“She was found in a shed which he used, notably for cannabis plantations,” the prosecutor general in Liege, Cedric Visart de Bocarme, said on public radio RTBF on Wednesday morning.
The discovery came as Liege hospital announced late on Tuesday that a 17-month-old girl had become the fourth victim of the shooting spree, after two teenage boys and a 75-year-old woman were earlier confirmed killed.
Officials said at least 120 others were also wounded in the attack, which occurred 90km east of Brussels.
Belgian officials said the motivation is unclear, but there is no evidence this was an act of political terrorism.
Liege prosecutor Danielle Reynders said the man was on his way for police questioning when he launched the attack.
“This morning he was supposed to go to the police for interrogation. He was seen on a roof on the Place Saint Lambert square. He used a weapon and a revolver and he threw three grenades. He is dead.”
But Belgium’s federal crisis centre said the attack was neither a terrorist incident nor linked to a pending criminal trial.
Armani was given a jail term of almost five years after police officers raided his metal workshop three years ago and found a dozen firearms, including an AK-47 machine-gun, and 9,500 gun parts. He was also found guilty of drug dealing after cultivating 2,800 marijuana plants.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was “saddened” by the attack.
“There can be absolutely no place for appalling acts of violence such as this in any society, and I condemn this attack in the strongest terms,” he said.
“I send my deepest sympathy to the victims of this attack, their families and loved ones.
“The Belgian authorities have our full support as they investigate this incident.”