Panic in Belgium after strikers sound nuclear sirens

Striking civil protection engineers caused panic in Belgium by sounding the country's nuclear sirens all morning.

Sirens were set off in the ports of Ghent and Antwerp and the town of Tihange where some people took iodine tablets to protect themselves from a nuclear explosion.

Police officers in all three areas were overwhelmed by phone calls from worried residents, reports Gazet van Antwerpen.

Belgian radio broadcast messages eventually reassuring the public that there was no disaster and that the sirens had been set off by striking workers.

Home affairs minister Antoine Duquesne has ordered the strikers to stop sounding the sirens.

His spokesman said: "The minister is not pleased with the civil protection workers having caused unnecessary panic among the population.