Terrorist attacks in Brussels leaves at least 26 dead, EU locking down
Three explosions that ripped through the Belgian capital of Brussels on Tuesday killed at least 26 people and wounded 130 more, according to Belgian media.
“We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters.
While Belgian federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said it was too soon to know exactly how many people died in the bombings, the Brussels Metro Authority reported that 15 died and 55 were wounded in the subway station blast reports claim that at least 11 more people were killed in the two blasts in the Brussels Airport departure hall.
Terrorism returns to Belgium. Back in 2014, a Belgium gunman attacked a Jewish museum photo screenshot of CCTV video supplied
Van Leeuw confirmed that one of the two explosions at the airport was a suicide bombing. The blast happened there outside the security checkpoints for ticketed passengers and near the airline check-in counters, an airline official briefed on the situation said.
CNN affiliate RTL reports that the subway station blast happened in the Brussels district of Maalbeek, near the European quarter, where much of the European Union is based.
Belgium has now raised its terrorism threat to its highest level.
The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive in the Paris attacks, was seized in Brussels. France has stepped up security, and the cabinet has held an emergency meeting.
“The terrorists have struck Belgium but it is Europe that was targeted. And it is the whole world that is concerned with this,” said French President Francois Hollande.
There is also extra security at Dutch airports.
European Union Map
Image/CIA
