Brussels blasts: 28 killed as terror strikes Europe again

Brussels, March 22: Belgian firefighters said at least 28 people had died after "enormous" blasts hit Brussels airport and the city's metro system on Tuesday, March 22.

Terror struck Europe on Tuesday as two deadly blasts - blamed on a suicide bomber - ripped through the Zaventem airport killing at least 13 people and a third explosion followed at a Metro station in the heart of the Belgian capital, claiming 15 more victims.

Pierre Meys, spokesman for the Brussels fire brigade, told AFP that 11 people died in twin blasts at Brussels airport.

There were also "around 10 killed at the Maalbeek metro station where there was an enormous explosion," he said. [Brussels explosions: No Indian among casualties]

"Most of the wounded have been evacuated. The scene is rather chaotic," he said.

The toll at the airport was "initial," he said. "A false ceiling collapsed with lots of rubble and so there could still be more victims," Meys added.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon announced that Belgium's terror threat had been raised to its highest level, as witnesses told there had been shots and shouts in Arabic at the airport before the blasts hit the departure hall.

Federal police told Belga that they could confirm one dead, amid chaotic scenes at the airport on the northwest outskirts of Brussels.

"There have been two explosions at the airport. Building is being evacuated. Don't come to the airport area," the airport said on Twitter.

Television images showed passengers fleeing chaotic scenes, with thick black smoke rising from the terminal building, where the windows had been shattered.

Another blast was reported at the Maalbeek metro station. Images on social media showed collapsed floor tiles littering the floor of the terminal hall.

The airport has been shut down until further notice, Eurocontrol, the European organisation for air navigation safety, confirmed on its website.

Public broadcaster RTBF said regional authorities had gone into emergency mode. Police told Belga news agency that at least one person had been killed and several others wounded.

RTBF said the blasts at the airport on the northwest outskirts of Brussels hit shortly after 8:00 am (0700 GMT). The blasts come days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on Friday of Saleh Abdeslam, prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run.

There was no immediate confirmation of the cause of the blasts. Europe's main stock markets retreated as the news broke, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropping 0.6 per cent compared with Monday's close and Frankfurt's DAX 30 shedding 1.1 per cent.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said that the "explosion at Brussels airport... has knocked sentiment".

AFP