International

Suicide bombers kill 34 at Brussels airport

Published

8 years ago

March 22, 2016

Suicide bombers kill 13 at Brussels airport

The Belgium capital of Brussels was rocked by two explosions as suicide bombers attacked the airport and metro station in the country’s capital killing about 34 people in the process.

According to Belgian public broadcaster VRT, there was another blast that struck a metro station in the capital later on.

Reports say shots were fired and there were loud shouts in Arabic before the blast went off at the airport.

The death toll from the Metro blast was put at 20 dead with 106 injured, while 14 were reported dead at the Airport: 14, with 92 injured.

Eyewitnesses say passengers tried running away from the scene of the incident down a slipway with many hauling their bags and scampering for safety as the terminal building was reeling with huge smoke from the blast.

In a bid to salvage the situation, authorities shut down all public transport in Brussels and the Belgian Crisis Centre, clearly wary of a further incident, appealed to the population: “Stay where you are”.

British Sky News television’s Alex Rossi, at the airport, said he heard two “very, very loud explosions”.

“I could feel the building move. There was also dust and smoke as well…I went towards where the explosion came from and there were people coming out looking very dazed and shocked.”

“The thinking here is that it is some kind of terrorist attack – that hasn’t been verified by any of the authorities here at the airport.”

Interestingly, the suicide attacks is coming four days after the arrest in Brussels of the prime suspect of the Paris attacks which claimed at least 130 people.

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