Police released new surveillance-video footage from the airport of the so-called “man in the hat”, who appeared next to two black-clad suicide bombers in images taken moments before the March 22 attack on the airport that killed 16 people.
Advertisement
Prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt told a news conference today: “It is especially the coat which interests us”.
They have asked members of the public who saw the man to come forward.
Those bombings, and a later attack on a subway station, left 32 civilians dead in the Belgian capital. He was also wearing dark pants and brown shoes with a large white sole.
Belgium’s federal prosecutor wants help in finding the “man in the hat” suspect from the attack on Brussels airport.
The appeal for public assistance more than two weeks after the suicide bombings indicates that investigators are at a standstill. Three attackers are believed to possess targeted the airport, with two expiring in the bomb blasts.
As he walked through the area near the airport, police said he “got rid of” his jacket. Eight minutes later at 09:50 local time his trail vanishes.
The video shows the suspect walking down streets in the airport town of Zaventem and into Brussels.
Belgian authorities are hoping that they or someone finds the discarded light-coloured jacket, saying it could yield precious clues.
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office also made a series of announcements later Thursday over cases that are not directly connected to the Brussels attacks, but that have underscored the complex array of networks and suspected terrorist plots now being investigated in France and Belgium.
Potential witnesses were asked to contact the police using a specially provided phone number and email address.
The European Parliament said Wednesday that Laachraoui worked for a parliament cleaning contractor for about a month in 2009 and again in 2010 while he as a student.
Where did he go?…
Sven Mary spoke after a legal hearing on the Belgian-born French citizen’s continuing detention in Belgium.
Police say Abdeslam’s fingerprints were found there.
Abdeslam hid from police in Brussels for four months until his ultimate capture by Belgian authorities in a raid carried out on a house in the Brussels district of Molenbeek on March 18.
Advertisement
Following the attacks, Belgian authorities arrested Fayç al Cheffou, and officials said they believed he was the third attacker.
