BREAKING: Brussels airport and metro station hit by BOMB BLASTS!
Two
explosions have hit the Brussels Zaventem airport, killing up to 13 people and
injuring dozens, hospital sources told local media.
Shortly
after the airport blasts on Tuesday morning, an explosion also struck at a
metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital, close to European Union
institutions.Footage
from the airport - the country's largest - showed people running from the terminal
building as plumes of smoke rose to the sky.
The
powerful blasts caused parts of the ceiling to fall down and windows were
shattered.
All
metro lines were shut down after the attacks. Some witnesses at the Maelbeek
said people with blood on their faces were seen at the scene. There were
conflicting reports on casualties, with Belgian media reporting several deaths.
The
metro system was closed down after the attacks
Ian
McCafferty, a witness at the station, said the blast happened during busy rush
hour traffic.
"People
started running when they saw smoke coming," he said. "The point of
these attacks is to make you live in fear but I refuse to."
The
interior ministry raised the country's terror alert to the highest level after
the blasts and Brussels crisis centre told people, "Stay where you
are".
State
broadcaster VRT reported that a suicide bomber had detonated explosives at the
airport.
Reuters
news agency said shots were fired before the explosions went off.
Local
media reported that the blasts happened near the American Airlines as hundreds
of people were checking in.
"An
eyewitness of the attack said that he heard loud explosions and as he heard it,
he took cover. He said the explosions were very loud and it was the most
frightening moment of his life," our correspondent said.
The
country had been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last year's
Paris attacks that left 130 people dead.
Belgium's
interior minister, Jan Jambon, said on Monday the country was aware of the risk
of a possible revenge attack following the capture of 26-year-old Abdeslam.
"We
know that stopping one cell can ... push others into action. We are aware of it
in this case," he told public radio.
Stay
tuned for further updates!
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