Passport scanners at airport do not work, warn police

Police officers at Brussels Airport this week warn that it is too easy for terrorists to get in and out of Belgium via the airport. "Half of the security checks done with passport scanners are faulty," one agent told Het Laatste Nieuws on Tuesday. The federal police have confirmed a malfunction with at least one of the scanners.

In 2013, Brussels Airport police caught 1,419 travellers with a forged, falsified, stolen or otherwise fraudulent passport, or about four per day. But many more slip through the cracks due to faulty scanners, according to police agents. The federal police confirmed that there is a problem with the hard drive of the device, but added that it will be repaired next week.