  Aims: We look for new regions for the search of substellar objects. Methods:
Two circular areas, 45 arcmin-radius each, centred on the young massive star
systems Alnilam and Mintaka in the Orion Belt, have been explored. The regions
are very young (less than 10 Ma), have low extinction, and are neighbours to
sigma Orionis (~3 Ma), a young open cluster very rich in brown dwarfs and
planetary-mass objects. We have used Virtual Observatory tools, the
astro-photometric Tycho-2, DENIS and 2MASS catalogues, 10 control fields at
similar galactic latitudes, and X-ray, mid-infrared and spectroscopic data from
the literature. Results: We have compiled exhaustive lists of known young stars
and new candidate members in the Ori OB1b association, and of fore- and
background sources. A total of 136 stars display features of extreme youth,
like early spectral types, lithium in absorption, or mid-infrared flux excess.
Other two young brown dwarf and 289 star candidates have been identified from
an optical/near-infrared colour-magnitude diagram. We list additional 74 known
objects that might belong to the association. This catalogue can serve as an
input for characterisation of the stellar and high-mass substellar populations
in the Orion Belt. Finally, we have investigated the surface densities and
radial distributions of young objects surrounding Alnilam and Mintaka, and
compared them with those in the sigma Orionis cluster. We report a new open
cluster centred on Mintaka. Conclusions: Both regions can be analogs to the
sigma Orionis cluster, but more massive, more extended, slightly older, and
less radially concentrated.
