At least 30 people were killed and over 230 wounded in Brussels after the city was hit by a series of terrorist attacks claimed by the Islamic State on Tuesday.
Twin explosions ripped through Brussels’ international airport—believed to have been set off by suicide bombers—shortly before 8:00 AM, while a third struck a subway station at 9:11 AM, according to Belgian officials. Footage released by authorities from a surveillance camera at the airport shows three suspects pushing trolleys past a check-in area. Two of the men wore gloves on their left hands while the third– who authorities are reportedly pursuing– is wearing a hat. The men with the gloves are thought to be the suicide bombers.
“We heard a big noise and saw a big flash,” said Ilaria Ruggiano, who was at the airport at the time of the attack. “My mother went to the floor — she was hit. I just dropped my luggage and went to the floor. A kid came out, bleeding a lot. I tried to help him with a tissue, but it was not enough. There were two bombs.”
Police found an undetonated bomb packed with nails, as well as chemicals an an ISIS flag, while searching homes in Brussels’ Schaerbeek district hours after the attacks.
Belgium raised its terror alert to its highest level and tightened security across the country. Terror threat levels have also been raised elsewhere, including across Europe and the United States.
“This is a day of tragedy, a black day,” said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. “I would like to call on everyone to show calmness and solidarity”.
Transportation in and out of Brussels has halted, with Michel also appealing to citizens to “avoid all movement” in fear of further attacks.
The blasts occurred just days after Belgian authorities arrested Salah Abdeslam, the mastermind behind the Paris terror attacks in November that left 130 people dead.
“Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital Brussels, a country participating in the coalition against the Islamic State,” read a bulletin published by a news agency affiliated with ISIS and picked up by the group’s official social media accounts. “Islamic State fighters opened fire inside the Zaventem airport, before several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maalbeek metro station.”
European security experts were warning of the threat of another attack for months. Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said Monday that the country was on high alert for a possible revenge attack following Abdeslam’s capture.
[Photo: Reuters / YouTube]