Belgian Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Kidnapped Antwerp Man

While he had gone to the Waarloos motorway service area, along the E19 towards Antwerp, to meet someone he had made an appointment with, Mohamed Azzaoui "was dragged by several masked and hooded suspects into a black VW Golf R32 at 8:49 pm," reports Belga. Called by witnesses, the police launched a chase without managing to catch up with the car.

In the ANPR camera images, we see the VW Golf taking the Autolei towards Borsbeek later in the evening at the Wommelgem roundabout. The victim would probably have been taken to a location between the Autolei and the Herentalsebaan that evening, then taken to another, still unknown location. In parallel, images circulating on social networks show the victim sitting almost naked and handcuffed on a chair.

The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office has issued a call for witnesses to find Mohamed Azzaoui. However, it specifies that "there may be a significant danger situation and asks not to take any initiative on one’s own." Found at the beginning of the week near the Brussels company that had rented it, the VW Golf was seized for possible trace analysis.