Victims of the attacks on Brussels’ airport and subway on Tuesday
included commuters heading to work and travelers setting off on a
long-anticipated vacations. At least 34 people died in the three bomb
attacks and over 250 injured. Among the confirmed dead is Adelma Marina
Tapia Ruiz.
The 36-year-old Peruvian woman who had lived in Brussels for almost
nine years, was traveling with her twin 4-year-old daughters, Maureen
and Alondra, to visit her mother in New York when two bombs exploded at
Brussels Airport. Ms. Tapia was killed making her one of the first known
victims of the terror attack. A split-second decision saved her husband
and daughters from sharing her fate.
Her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, who was seeing his family
off, had taken the girls out of the check-in line to play for a moment
when a loud explosion ripped through the departures area of Brussels
airport.
One of the twin girls, Maureen was struck in the arm by shrapnel
while Alondra was not injured. Their father, Christopher Delcambe was
also injured during the explosion. He and Maureen are currently being
treated in a local hospital.
“We danced together at an event for Women’s Day just recently,” said
Lady Sindey Jouany, a friend of Ms. Tapia’s who lives in Paris. “She was
a very active woman. I’m still in shock. At first I thought it was
someone else, and it took time to understand how this could have
happened to her and how close to home it has hit.”
Fernando Tapia Coral, Ms. Tapia’s older brother, confirmed his
sister’s death in a Facebook post. The daughters were the love of
Tapia’s life. After getting married, the couple had difficulty
conceiving so they traveled several times to the Amazonian jungle in
Peru to seek out medicinal plants to help start a family, Fernando told
Associated Press.
“It’s very complicated to describe this pain that we’re feeling at
home, but as an older brother I know that I have to do it,” Fernando
Tapia wrote. “But even more incomprehensible is not being able to be
close to her. And this tragedy today touched the doors of my family this
morning in the Brussels airport when my sister Adelma Tapia died in the
terrorist attack and was not able to survive this jihadist attack that
we’ll never understand.”
In an interview, Mr. Tapia said: “The girls had been playing, and
Christopher followed them out of the gate area when the explosion
occurred suddenly. Christopher couldn’t find Adelma.”
Ms. Tapia had three sisters and two brothers. “They are in shock and
can’t even talk,” Mr. Tapia said. “We are from Pucallpa, and everyone
here is also in shock.”
He added that one of his sisters was trying to fly to Belgium to help identify the body.
“Adelma was a chef and had studied marketing; she wanted to set up a Peruvian restaurant in Brussels,” Mr. Tapia said.
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