Belgium attacks: 35 dead, several injured in explosions at Brussels airport

Belgium launched a huge manhunt Tuesday after a series of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train, killing around 35 people in the latest attack to bring carnage to the heart of Europe.

Two huge blasts, both possibly caused by a suicide bomber, hit the check-in hall at Zaventem Airport, strewing the scene with blood and mangled bodies and sending hundreds of terrified travellers fleeing in terror.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspected suicide attackers pushing trollies through the terminal and said they were “actively searching” for a third whose bomb failed to go off.

The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europe’s symbolic capital, just months after IS militants killed 130 people in Paris, will raise fresh questions about the continent’s ability to cope with the terror threat.

It also underscores doubts about how Belgium has allowed extremism to develop unchecked, coming just four days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels of key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam after four months on the run.

“This is a day of tragedy, a black day,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said and announced three days of national mourning after the “deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium”.

Belgian King Philippe condemned the “cowardly and odious” assault.

The Islamic State claimed the bombings, saying “soldiers of the caliphate” had carried out the attack against “the crusader state” of Belgium.

Social media showed pictures of smoke rising from the departure hall where all windows had been shattered by the blast. Passengers were seen running away down a slipway from the departure lounge.

The Belgian broadcaster RTBF quoted a witness as saying there were people injured or unconscious in the departure area, opposite the Sheraton hotel.

Niels Caignau, a Swissport employee, told Flemish broadcaster VRT: “I was on a break and heard and felt a big explosion — we have from here a view over the departure hall and saw a plume of smoke come out.

Sky News television’s Alex Rossi, at the scene, 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.”

“The thinking here is that it is some kind of terrorist attack — that hasn’t been verified by any of the authorities here at the airport.” Belgian media said rail traffic to the airport was suspended.

There was no immediate official comment on the cause of the attack.