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Brussels live: 21 people killed in blasts at airport, metro station
Explosions tore through the departure hall of Brussels airport and struck a metro station on Tuesday morning, killing up to 21 people and injuring several others, local reports said. The Belga agency said shots were fired and there were shouts in Arabic shortly before the blasts at the airport. Pictures on social media showed smoke rising from the terminal building through shattered windows and passengers running away down a slipway, some still hauling their bags.
Explosions tore through the departure hall of Brussels airport and struck a metro station on Tuesday morning killing up to 21 people and injuring several others, local reports said.
The Belga agency said shots were fired and there were shouts in Arabic shortly before the blasts at the airport. Pictures on social media showed smoke rising from the terminal building through shattered windows and passengers running away down a slipway, some still hauling their bags.
The blasts at the airport and metro station occurred four days after the arrest in Brussels of a suspected participant in November militant attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Belgian police had been on alert for any reprisal action.
• 2.20pm - Belgian public broadcaster says bomb at Brussels airport was a suicide attack.
• 2.16pm - Aftermath footage emerges from airport.
• 2.15pm - Brussels airport tweets: “Questions about family or friends > Call 02/753.73.00”
• 2.11pm - AP reporter: several people injured in explosion in Brussels Metro.
• 2.07pm - UK Prime Minister David Cameron tweets on attack.
• 2.05pm - Local reports say three explosives found at the airport.
• 2.05pm - An AP reporter says saw several people with facial injuries following an explosion in a Brussels metro station near European Union headquarters. At least two people were seen being moved on stretchers
• 2.04pm - MEA says not report of Indian casualty.
• 2.04pm - Smoke reported at subway station near EU headquarters.
• 2.03pm - European airline, travel stocks fall sharply after Brussels blasts.
• 2.02pm - Metro operator STIB announces on Twitter that the metro is closing.
• 2pm - Jet Airways says all planes in Brussels, its Europe hub, are safe. Airline trying to find status of passengers and staff.
• 1.54pm - Terror alert level raised from three to a maximum of four; applied across Belgium.
• 1.57pm - Explosion reported at Brussels Metro station close to EU institutions. No official confirmation.
• 1.48pm - Belgian fire service tells local media least several dead.
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.
Sky News television’s Alex Rossi, 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.”
Belgian interior minister said the terror alert has been raised to the maximum level in wake of the explosions.
Video showed devastation inside the departure hall with items scattered across the floor.
Belgian media said rail traffic to the airport was suspended.
Brussels airport said it had cancelled all flights and the complex had been evacuated.
Salah 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.
Belgium’s Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, said on Monday 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.
French investigator Francois Molins told a news conference in Paris on Saturday that Abdeslam, a French citizen born and raised in Brussels, admitted to investigators he had wanted to blow himself up along with others at the Stade de France on the night of the attack claimed by Islamic State; but he later backed out.
