Two were suicide bombers, the prosecutor said; the other was a man in a white jacket and black cap who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives which was later detonated by police in a controlled explosion.
Advertisement
Prosecutors had said on Monday – the day before the Brussels attacks – that he had travelled to Hungary in September with Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks, who was captured by police last week.
A CCTV image of Laachraoui from Brussels airport was released by police yesterday.
Early Wednesday, Belgian state broadcaster RTBF identified two of the suspected suicide bombers as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.
The broad range of nationalities reflects the cosmopolitan nature of Brussels – home to many migrants to Belgium as well as the institutional capital of the 28-nation European Union.
Brussels Airport remained closed Wednesday because the forensic investigation is still taking place. “More likely they moved up the attack because his info could seriously disrupt the network”, he said. The 24-year-old’s DNA was reportedly found on suicide belts used in the Bataclan theatre and Stade de France attacks in Paris in November.
The brothers had criminal records but had not previously been linked by police to terrorism, it was reported.
“They are trying to make an global statement”, the official said. Police have arrested and interviewed several people, but are still looking for a key suspect.
According to an ongoing toll provided by the Belgian health ministry, 31 people were killed and 270 were injured.
Still, that could have been different had a third bomb – described as the “heaviest” by Van Leeuw – had gone off at the airport.
It was during that raid that police found a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris terror attacks of 13 November.
The suspect involved in the airport bombing in Brussels is believed to still be on the run, according to Belgian officials.
The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.
There is disagreement over whether the jihadists could have organised the assaults on the Brussels airport and metro quickly enough to be a response to Abdeslam’s arrest on Friday.
Bomb squads also detonated suspicious objects found in at least two locations elsewhere in the capital, but neither contained explosives, authorities said.
At around 10.30am Downing Street says it is concerned about one missing British national following the Brussels attack, adding that four Britons had been injured, three of whom are in hospital.
Advertisement
Ibrahim Bakrawi and Khalid Bakrawi or El Bakraoui have been identified reports Belgian media.
