Witnesses
described apocalyptic scenes with blood and ‘dismembered bodies
everywhere’ after two blasts rocked Brussels Airport at 8am (7am GMT) in
a suspected suicide bombing, killing at least 14 people and injuring 35
others.
Then 79
minutes later at 9.19am, at least 20 people were killed and 55 injured,
some critically, when a blast hit a Metro station just 400 metres from
the EU headquarters in the city centre.
At the
airport, there were reports of a firefight between police and the
attackers who shouted in Arabic moments before detonating their bombs. A
Kalashnikov was later recovered from the scene.
The blasts,
which detonated near the American Airlines and Brussels airlines
check-in desks, sent shockwaves through the terminal building,
shattering windows and knocking roof tiles off the ceiling as terrified
passengers ran for their lives.
The
explosions have left countries worldwide reeling, with security placed
on high alert, flights cancelled, Eurostar services suspended and
France’s border with Belgium shut down.
Two suspects
were arrested a mile from the Maelbeek metro station at around 11am as
hundreds of troops and police flooded the streets of Brussels in the
hunt for members of the terror cell.
Soldiers have
been also been deployed at the airport and other key locations across
Brussels as Belgium raised security to its maximum level.
The bombings
come just a day after the Belgium Interior Minister warned of possible
revenge attacks after the arrest of Paris massacre suspect Salah
Abdeslam in the city on Friday.
Photographs
from inside the arrivals hall showed the floor covered in fallen tiles
and dust as bloodied people hobbled out of the airport. Others injured
were photographed lying on the floor.
Video showed terrified passengers running for their lives out of the building.
Firefighters
who entered the terminal to search for survivors are said to have found a
third unexploded device, while armed police in protective clothing
combed the building for more wounded travellers and suspicious bags.
London Mayor Boris Johnson today said ‘there may be one UK casualty’ in the explosions.
Samir Derrouich, who works at a restaurant in the airport, told MailOnline: ‘The two explosions were almost simultaneous.
‘They were both at a check-in desk. One was close to the Starbucks. It was awful. There was just blood. It was like the apocalypse.’
Dries Valaert, 30, was waiting to get his boarding pass from a check in desk when the blast struck.
He said: ‘There was a first blast and then ten seconds later a second explosion. It was a big, big blast, the ceiling went down. It was just 30 metres from where I was.‘I saw people down on the ground and I just went running. I jumped over the security fences towards the departure gates as I thought it would be safer.‘My first intuition was to get out in case their were attackers with guns. I saw a woman around 18 years old with a hole in her hand with blood pouring out and a man with an injured ankle and two people down. There was lots of panic. People were running all over the place.’
Mr Valaert,
who was flying to a business meeting in Berlin, said he believed the
bombs were hidden in suitcases that had just been checked in.
He said: ‘The explosions were just behind the service desks, they were blown towards us. To me it is the most realistic possibility. I don’t think it was someone with a suicide vest.’
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