Brussels: 35 killed in terror attacks, Islamic State claims responsibility

Brussels: Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 35 people were reported dead and over 200 injured as Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

According the Belgian broadcaster VRT, 20 people were killed in the blast on a metro train while another 14 died in explosions at Zaventem airport, in the departure area.

Read: Security beefed up across world after Brussels attacks

Belgian media reported explosions from the Maelbeek metro station -- barely 400 metres from the European Union headquarters -- exactly 79 minutes after the airport blasts around 8 am local time Tuesday.

Read: Eiffel Tower to be lit with Belgium's colours after attacks

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels, saying its extremists opened fire in the airport and 'several of them' detonated suicide belts.

The post in the group's Amaq news agency said another suicide attacker detonated in the metro. The post also claimed the attack was in response to Belgium's support of the international coalition arrayed against it.

The Belga agency said shots were fired and there were shouts in Arabic shortly before the blasts at the airport. Pictures on social media showed smoke rising from the terminal building through shattered windows and passengers running away down a slipway, some still hauling their bags.

Earlier this week, Belgian police arrested Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in Paris attacks, who was shot in the leg before being detained.

Read: Gatwick airport steps up security after Brussels attacks

Two women wounded in the explosions at Brussels Airport on Tuesday. (Photo: AP)

An army team blew up a suspect package at Brussels airport amid reports that police had found an unexploded suicide vest after two deadly bomb attacks earlier today. In a statement on Twitter, Belgium's Crisis Centre said army explosives experts would neutralise a suspicious package at Zaventem airport, and shortly afterwards, an AFP journalist heard the explosion and saw smoke coming up from the departures hall building.

Read: Brussels explosions: Airport blast was a suicide attack: federal prosecutor

Police discovered a non-exploded bomb belt at Brussels Airport according to Belgian private broadcaster VTM. Broadcaster VRT said cops had also found a Kalashnikov assault rifle next to the dead attacker at Brussels Airport.

"The blasts, which detonated near the American Airlines and Brussels airlines check-in desks, sent shockwaves through the terminal building, shattering windows and knocking roof tiles off the ceiling as terrified passengers ran for their lives," reported Daily Mail. The site also said two suspects were arrested near the Maelbeek metro station around 11 am as "hundreds of troops and police flooded the streets of Brussels in the hunt for members of the terror cell".

According to a Belgian TV station, at least one of the bombs at the Brussels airport contained nails.

Read: Belgian authorities urge media blackout on blast probe

Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw called all three explosions in Brussels "terrorist attacks". Two of the explosions on Tuesday morning hit Brussels' Zavantem airport and the third struck in the city's Maelbeek metro station. 

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said "what we feared has happened", stating authorities were worried there would be more attacks. Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, Michel said: "There are many dead, many injured from the attacks earlier Tuesday at the airport and a subway station." He said border controls have been reinforced. Michel said, "We realise we face a tragic moment. We have to be calm and show solidarity."

Read: 'What we feared has happened,' says Belgian PM as world leaders condemn attacks

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, and Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

All public transport in Brussels was shut down, as it was in London during the 2005 militant attacks on the underground that killed 52. A further 225 soldiers were sent into the city and the Belgian Crisis Centre, clearly wary of a further incident, and appealed to the population: "Stay where you are".

All flights were cancelled, arriving planes were being diverted and Belgium's terror alert level was raised to maximum, officials said. 

Read: Timeline of recent terror attacks in Western Europe

The city is the capital of the 28-nation European Union. NATO is also headquartered in the region.

With three runways in the shape of a "Z," the airport connects Europe's capital to 226 destinations around the world and handled nearly 23.5 million passengers in 2015.

 Around 9.19 am local time, an Associated Press reporter saw several people with facial injuries following an explosion in the Maelbeek metro station near the European Union headquarters.

Alexandre Brans, 32, who was wiping blood from his face, said: "The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there was a really loud explosion. It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro." The Brussels subway company has closed all stations.

Read: Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam arrested in Brussels

The blasts triggered concern across western Europe with Britain and France calling emergency security meetings. The Dutch military strengthened security at airports and borders and Britain stepped up police presence at key locations including transport hubs.

Earlier, two explosions ripped through Brussels airport around 8 am local time during the morning rush hour as hundreds of passengers were trying to check in.

Passengers were led onto the tarmac and the crisis centre urged people not to come to the airport. Belgian police and combat troops on the streets had been on alert for any reprisal action but the attacks took place in crowded public areas where people and bags are not searched.

Brussels airport is closed until further notice, Eurocontrol, the European organisation for air navigation safety confirmed on its website today following the twin explosions.

Read: Blood everywhere, says witness after twin blast at Brussels airport

Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon said “terror level goes to maximum level in wake of airport explosions”.

An amateur video shown on France's i-Tele television showed passengers including a child running with a backpack dashing out of the terminal different directions as they tugged luggage. Another image showed a security officer patrolling inside a hall with blasted paneling and what appears to be ceiling insulation covering the floor.

Images on the RTBF website showed smoke rising from the terminal building, where the windows had been shattered.

Panic and chaos prevailed at the airport as people started fleeing after hearing the explosions. Brussels Airport authorities took to Twitter to warn people about the situation at the airport.

Belgian media said rail traffic to the airport was suspended. The airport was evacuated soon after the blasts.

Brussels has been on high alert since the deadly Paris attacks November 13, which killed 129 people. French investigator Francois Molins told a news conference in Paris on Saturday that Abdeslam, the French citizen born and raised in Brussels, admitted to investigators he had wanted to blow himself up along with others at the Stade de France on the night of the attack claimed by Islamic State; but he later backed out.

Read: Brussels terror attack – A timeline

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, told France's BFM television that the second louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with blood from victims.
"It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed," he said. "There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere." "We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene."

"I knew it was an explosion because I've been around explosions before," said Denise Brandt, an American woman interviewed by Sky television.

"I felt the explosion, the way it feels through your body. And we just looked at each other and I said 'Let's go this way.' It was over there. There was just this instinct to get away from it. Then we saw people running, crying, toward us. So I knew we were going in the right direction and away from it. "

Marie-Odile Lognard, a traveller who was lining up in the departures hall for a flight to Abu Dhabi, told BFM television that people panicked after the first explosion about 20 metres from her and that a second explosion about 15 seconds later caused parts of the ceiling to collapse.

British Sky News television's Alex Rossi, at the airport, said he heard two "very, very loud explosions". "I could feel the building move. There was also dust and smoke as well... I went towards where the explosion came from and there were people coming out looking very dazed and shocked."

Alphonse Youla, 40, who works at the airport, said he heard a man shouting out in Arabic before the first explosion. "Then the glass ceiling of the airport collapsed." "I helped carry out five people dead, their legs mangled," he said, his hands covered in blood.

European stocks fell after the explosions, particularly travel sector stocks including airlines and hotels, pulling the broader indices down from multi-week highs. Safe-haven assets, gold and government bonds rose in price.

Belgium's Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, had said Monday the country was on high alert for a revenge attack. "We know that stopping one cell can... push others into action. We are aware of it in this case," he told public radio.