Brussels, Aug 29 (IANS): An explosion hit a crime laboratory in a Brussels suburb on Monday, the authorities said.

According to a report on RTL Belgium news, a car rammed through three fences of the Brussels Institute of Criminology at 2.30 a.m.

A fire broke out which was put out quickly. There have been no casualties reported so far, said Pierre Meys, spokesman of the Brussels fire brigade.

The motive for the attack remains unknown. Police have sealed off the area of the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.

The criminology institute assists and advises the judicial authorities in their investigations.

The independent institute is located in Neder-Over-Heembeek, a suburb in the north of Brussels.

Bilal Hadfi, who blew himself up outside the Stade de France during last November's Paris attacks, lived in the suburb.

Belgium's terror alert level remains high since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro claimed by the Islamic State killed 32 people in March.