Tuesday 22 March 2016

Explosion at airport in Brussels kills at least 10

At least 10 people have been killed with another 30 people injured after explosions tore through the departure hall of Brussels airport on Tuesday morning. 

A second blast also occurred  at a metro station in the capital shortly afterwards, the Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said.

The agency also reported that shots were fired and there were shouts in Arabic shortly before the blasts at the airport. There have also been pictures on social media circulating which showed smoke rising from the terminal building through shattered windows and passengers running away. 

These attacks are coming just four days after the arrest in Brussels of a suspected participant in November militant attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. This is likely to be a reprisal attack after the arrest of Salah Abdelslam. 

RTBF are reporting that the metro station hit by the explosion was close to European Union institutions. All metro stations in Brussels have also been closed down by authorities but exact details and extent of casualties in the metro station bombings have not been made available. 

Flights have also been cancelled and passengers evacuated. All trains to the airport have also been cancelled as coaches have been made available to take passengers from the airport to secure areas. 

French citizen Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect for November's Paris attacks on a stadium, cafes and a concert hall, was captured by Belgian police after a shootout on Friday.

Belgium's Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, had said on Monday the country was on high alert for a revenge attack.

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