At least 34 people are feared dead and many wounded after a suspected suicide bombing and explosions at Brussels Airport and a Metro station in the Belgian capital.
Witnesses said the airport blasts happened shortly before 8am local time (7am GMT) in the departure hall near the check-in desks for American Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
Shortly afterwards, another explosion was reported at the Maalbeek (Maelbeek) station, near the European Council headquarters and other EU buildings. The capital's entire public transport system was being shut down.
The Belga news agency reported that shots were fired before the explosions and shouting was heard in Arabic. But a witness, David Crunelle, said he did not hear "Islamic sentences".
Authorities have not released a statement confirming casualty figures but the VRT News quoted officials saying at least 34 had died and scores were injured.
Brussels' STIB transport authority said that at least 15 people were killed and 55 wounded at Maalbeek station but added that the toll was "provisional".
A Sky News journalist who was checking in at the time said he heard two very large explosions before being moved away from the area and that speculation of a terror attack was spreading.
An American couple, Andrew and Denise Brandt, said they felt the blast "like a wave" as they shopped on the other side of security barriers, before hundreds of people started running towards them.
Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told France's BFM television that the second explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with blood from victims.
“It was atrocious," he said. “There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere. We were walking in the debris. It was a war zone.”
Belgium's federal prosecutor told local broadcasters that a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one of the explosions.
A spokesperson confirmed three explosions in total - two at Brussels Airport and one in the subway station Maelbeek.
Footage showed passengers running from the terminal building as smoke poured through smashed windows.
No comments:
Post a Comment