BRUSSELS, Belgium -Three explosions that ripped through the Belgian capital of Brussels on Tuesday killed at least 31 people and wounded about 170 more, according to Belgian media.
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A Belgian government representative told CNN that 20 people died at the Maelbeek metro station and 130 were wounded, plus 10 more were killed and 100 wounded at Brussels’ global airport.
Early Tuesday morning, just before 8 am local time (3 am Eastern), two explosions went off in the Brussels airport killing at least 11 people.
A third explosion occurred shortly after at Maelbeek metro station, near the principle institutions of the European Union.
Belgian authorities put the country on the highest level 4 alert.
U.S. President Barack Obama led calls of support to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel after Brussels went into a state of virtual lock-down.
“Islamic State fighters opened fire inside Zaventem Airport, before several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyrdom bomber detonated his belt in the Maalbeek metro station”.
The U.S. Embassy in Brussels is recommending that Americans in Belgium stay where they are and avoid public transportation.
The emergency began at the airport, where two explosions hit the departure hall and people quickly began to evacuate.
The official confirmed a statement by a Brussels official about evidence of a suicide bombing at the airport as well. “I saw people lying on the ground covered in blood who were not moving”, Lyoura said.
According to United Kingdom paper The Guardian, Belgian police released the a photo of a potential suspect, saying the unknown man dressed in white at the attack on the airport is wanted for questioning. “It was a war scene”, he said. After the Paris incident they said a lot of the people who were involved from the Maalenbeek area.
People leave the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2016.
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, a British journalist living in Brussels, told AFP there had been “total confusion” at the airport, where she was having breakfast before a flight. “It was a bit distant, but fairly loud”, Pilger said by telephone from a hotel opposite the terminal building where travellers have been take by airport staff.
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In Boston, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said that while there has been no credible threat in his state that “security has been strengthened for our public transit systems and airports”.
