Police are seen at the site of a shooting in central Brussels yesterday, where three people were killed near the city’s Jewish Museum. Photo: Reuters/Eric Vidal

Three people were killed and one seriously injured during a shooting at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels yesterday, with Belgium’s Interior Minister Joëlle Milquet saying anti-Semitic motives could be behind the attack.

A spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade said the shooter drove up to the museum, went inside and fired shots.

“According to the information we have at the moment, it was a solitary shooter and it seems to have happened inside the museum,” Pierre Meys, Brussels fire brigade spokesman, told French channel BFM TV.

“There were a lot of witnesses and the investigation is moving fast.”

The Interior Minister was quoted saying by the RTBF Belgian television station that anti-Semitic motives could be behind the attack.

“It’s a shooting... at the Jewish Museum,” she was quoted saying. “All of this can lead to suspicions of an act of anti-Semitism.”

Police cordoned off the area, a busy tourist district in central Brussels packed with cafes and restaurants.