The office of Frederic Van Leeuw, Belgium’s federal prosecutor, said that two of the men likely carried out suicide attacks, while the third was being sought.
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Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night and raids were under way across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an Islamic State flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment. After his arrest, Salah Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.
The airport strikes and a subsequent bombing on the metro near European Union headquarters killed at least 35 people and left more than 230 injured.
“A photo of three suspects was taken at Brussels airport”, he said.
“A man shouted a few words in Arabic and then I heard a huge blast”, airport baggage security officer Alphonse Lyoura told AFP, his hands bloodied.
Authorities are still searching for a third unidentified man seen on the surveillance video with the two suspects.
Global landmarks, such as the Trevi fountain in Rome and the Eiffel Tower, have been lit up in the colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims.
The two airport blasts, at least one of them blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and travellers streamed out of the smoky building.
– 1615 GMT: Third bomb failed to explode at Brussels airport, says Brussels governor.
“These were acts of pure evil that have claimed the lives of people who were doing nothing more than going about their days”, the governor said.
At French President Francois Hollande’s official residence, the French tricolour flew at half-mast and Belgian flags stood at the main entrance.
When the train he was on stopped suddenly due to an “incident on the line”, New Jersey native Evan Lamos had no idea just how close he was to a deadly explosion at the Maelbeek subway station in central Brussels that killed about 20 people. The wounded in the two attacks included four US Mormon missionaries, two Britons, eight French and two Colombians.
“It’s sad, it’s unfortunate, it’s shocking”, said Sofiane, an Algerian student, who had come to pay her respects.
The Belgian government has announced a temporary shutdown of the Brussels metro system, one of the city’s primary methods of public transportation. First aid team are in place for help.
But the identities of the bombers aren’t clear to USA authorities, either because Belgian authorities haven’t completed identification or haven’t shared that information with counterterrorism officials in the US, the officials said.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has issued a statment, calling on the country to avoid falling into panic.
Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on November 13.
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Khalid had rented under a false name the apartment in the city’s Forest borough, where police hunting Mr Abdeslam killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said.
