Courtesy of Mish.
Fear Descends on Belgium
Isis claims responsibility for twin bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium, the EU capital. At least 30 are reported dead.
The first attack hit Zaventem airport shortly before 8am. A second blast, about an hour later hit the metro station of Mallbeek, right in the heart of the EU quarter.
Public transportation is now closed and sirens wail continually.
The Financial Times reports Isis Claims Brussels Bomb Attacks that Left at Least 30 Dead.
Isis claimed responsibility for twin bomb attacks in Brussels on Tuesday that killed some 30 people and left scores injured in the EU capital.
The bombings came only a day after Jan Jambon, Belgium’s interior minister, warned that jihadis could be looking for a way to counter-attack after the arrest last week of Salah Abdeslam, a suspected participant in November’s Paris terror attacks.
The total number of casualties was unclear. The mayor of Brussels has said about 20 died in the attack on the metro, while Belgian media reported a death toll of 14 at the airport, citing staff at hospitals.
Belgian broadcasters showed footage from the scenes of both attacks of bloodied travellers, caked in dust, receiving treatment from paramedics.
Over a panicky day, public transport in Brussels was shut down and mobile phone networks were overloaded, while sirens wailed continually across the city.
Charles Michel, Belgium’s prime minister, confirmed the country had been struck by terrorists, describing it as a “blind, violent and cowardly” act.
“What we feared has happened,” Mr Michel said, telling reporters it was now a priority to secure “other locations for which concerns still exist”.
Witnesses said the explosions happened inside a Starbucks café in the departure hall of the airport. “The whole side of the terminal building was blown out. A lot of people had blood on their faces, leg injuries. People began pouring out of the building,” said Simon O’Connor, senior aide to Pierre Moscovici, the European Commission’s economic chief.
O’Connor was at the airport’s car park preparing for a flight to Rome when he heard the first explosion.
Airport Video
