BY Mayowa Tijani
Twin explosions brought down chaos to the departure hall of Brussels airport on Tuesday morning, less than 96 hours after the arrest of Salah Abdelsalam, the last living suspect involved in the Paris attack, which killed many in the French “city of love”.
Belga, the Belgian news agency that first confirmed the attack, initially said one person was killed bile many sustained injuries. The agency said shots were fired and there were shouts in Arabic shortly before the explosions.
However, BBC subsequently quoted Belgian media as saying the death toll had risen to 26 – 11 occurring at the airport, and 15 near the European Union (EU) buildings in Brussels. At least 146 people were injured in the attack
TheGuardian, which is currently running a live blog after on tragedy, made the same confirmation. It also reported that all trains to Brussels stations from Paris had been cancelled.
It added that Belgium’s federal prosecutor confirmed that the explosions were executed by a suicide bomber
After the arrest of Abdelsalam in Brussels on Friday, Belgian Police said it had been on the alert for reprisal attack from the terrorist network, seen as blossoming in the European company.
Jan Jambon said on Monday that the country was on high alert for a possible revenge attack following the capture of 26-year-old Abdeslam.
“We know that stopping one cell can … push others into action. We are aware of it in this case,” he told public radio.
Social media showed pictures of smoke rising from the departure hall where windows had been shattered by the blasts. Passengers were seen running away down a slipway, Reuters reported.
Alex Rossi, Sky News television reporter at the scene, 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.”
Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect for November’s Paris attacks on a stadium, cafes and a concert hall, was captured by Belgian police after a shootout on Friday.
He was said to have been caught in a house that was just eight minute walk from his former house in the same city, but eluded the police for eight months.
Though Islamic State has not claimed the attack, many security sources already link the attack to the group.
This website uses cookies.