Police have now detained a suspect. The youngster, who sustained injuries to his eye socket, was able to talk with police for a first time on Tuesday and provided details of his attacker's appearance.

As a result police were able to pull in a local man for questioning, but were obliged to release him again due to lack of evidence. After police uncovered fresh evidence the suspect was detained in the course of Wednesday.

The public prosecutor's spokeswoman Caroline Jonckers was unable to confirm a racist motive for the attack: "At the minute it's not clear what triggered the attack or what the motive was."

The 17-year-old of Turkish descent is now on the mend, though his mother told Gazet van Antwerpen that her son had suffered permanent brain damage.