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| Explosions at Airport and Subway Station Bring Brussels to a Halt | Explosions at Airport and Subway Station Bring Brussels to a Halt |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BRUSSELS — Brussels was virtually shut down on Tuesday, after explosions rocked its main international airport and a subway station in the heart of the city, near the headquarters complex of the European Union. | |
| The explosions killed at least 13 people, according to news agencies. While the causes of the blasts were not yet clear, they set off meetings about terrorism throughout Europe. | The explosions killed at least 13 people, according to news agencies. While the causes of the blasts were not yet clear, they set off meetings about terrorism throughout Europe. |
| The explosions occurred four days after the Belgian authorities captured Europe’s most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the sole remaining survivor of the 10 men who were directly involved in the attacks that killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13. | |
| The attacks put the Belgian capital in a state of virtual lockdown. All flights were canceled for the day. All subway, tram and bus travel was shut down. Eurostar canceled its trains connecting Brussels with Paris and London. Cellphone lines were jammed as panicked travelers and Belgians tried to make calls. | |
| The events on Tuesday began with a pair of explosions at a departure hall at Brussels Airport, in the town of Zaventem, about seven miles northeast of the city center, just before 8 a.m. | The events on Tuesday began with a pair of explosions at a departure hall at Brussels Airport, in the town of Zaventem, about seven miles northeast of the city center, just before 8 a.m. |
| “We were going to check in around 7:30 a.m.,” said one traveler, Ilaria Ruggiano. “There were seven of us. We were a bit late. We heard a big noise and saw a big flash. My mother went to the floor — she was hit. I just dropped my luggage and went to the floor. A kid came out, bleeding a lot. I tried to help him with a tissue, but it was not enough. There were two bombs.” | |
| Another passenger, Jérôme Delanois, said he was at an Internet cafe near the Delta Air Lines counter when he heard a thunderous noise. “There were two explosions — one big one and one little one,” he said. “The first one blew all the walls and everything. There were burning flames. The first one was bigger. It blew out all the windows.” | |
| Belinda How, a traveler from Malaysia who was in Brussels for a vacation, said she had been lining up to check in for an Etihad Airways flight when she heard the blast. “I was the last passenger queuing up,” she said. “I was very close to the first blast. Everybody was screaming.” | |
| She added: “I said to my son — he is a Down’s syndrome special-needs child — ‘You have to run.’ He said, ‘My leg hurts.’ I think he was panicked. I left my luggage, dragged him and ran. Before I ran out, there was another bomb.” | |
| Alan Merbaum, who had flown in from Washington, said he had narrowly avoided the blast. | |
| “I heard what sounded like a thud a minute or so before 8 a.m.,” he said. “It sounded like it could have been something dropped off the back of a truck. Ten to 20 seconds later, I heard a loud explosion and I immediately knew what it was. I saw smoke coming out of the front entrance of the airport.” | |
| Photographs posted online showed passengers covered in blood and soot, looking stunned but conscious. Some passengers were seen being taken away on luggage carts. | |
| Other images posted on social media showed smoke rising from a departure hall, where the windows had been blown out, and people running away from the building. Hundreds were herded outside. | Other images posted on social media showed smoke rising from a departure hall, where the windows had been blown out, and people running away from the building. Hundreds were herded outside. |
| “We are trying to know more about what is going on,” said Anke Fransen, a spokeswoman for the airport. “It is certain there are several victims in our departure hall.” | “We are trying to know more about what is going on,” said Anke Fransen, a spokeswoman for the airport. “It is certain there are several victims in our departure hall.” |
| Around 9:10 a.m., another blast shook the Maelbeek subway station in downtown Brussels, not far from the area that houses most of the European Union’s core institutions, according to the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The Brussels transport authority said on Twitter that all subway stations were closing. | |
| “For the moment, what we know is that there was at least one, possibly two explosions; we are still investigating,” said Sandra Eyschen, a spokeswoman for the Belgian federal police. “There are several injured, we don’t have any exact numbers, and, unfortunately, it appears there are some dead, at least one person.” | “For the moment, what we know is that there was at least one, possibly two explosions; we are still investigating,” said Sandra Eyschen, a spokeswoman for the Belgian federal police. “There are several injured, we don’t have any exact numbers, and, unfortunately, it appears there are some dead, at least one person.” |
| Belgium quickly raised its threat status to the maximum level, The Associated Press reported, citing the interior minister, Jan Jambon. | Belgium quickly raised its threat status to the maximum level, The Associated Press reported, citing the interior minister, Jan Jambon. |
| The roads to the airport were closed, and train service there was suspended. The airport authorities posted a message on Twitter warning people to stay away. | The roads to the airport were closed, and train service there was suspended. The airport authorities posted a message on Twitter warning people to stay away. |
| A number of flights destined for Brussels that were in the air at the time of the blasts were being diverted to other airports, said Kyla Evans, a spokeswoman for Eurocontrol, the agency that coordinates air traffic for the region. | A number of flights destined for Brussels that were in the air at the time of the blasts were being diverted to other airports, said Kyla Evans, a spokeswoman for Eurocontrol, the agency that coordinates air traffic for the region. |
| Belgium has emerged as a focus of counterterrorism investigators after the attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead. | Belgium has emerged as a focus of counterterrorism investigators after the attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead. |
| On Monday, the Belgian authorities asked for the public’s help in finding Najim Laachraoui, 24, who they identified as an accomplice of Mr. Abdeslam. The authorities are also searching for Mohamed Abrini, 31, who was filmed with Mr. Abdeslam at a gas station on a highway to Paris two days before the Nov. 13 attacks. | On Monday, the Belgian authorities asked for the public’s help in finding Najim Laachraoui, 24, who they identified as an accomplice of Mr. Abdeslam. The authorities are also searching for Mohamed Abrini, 31, who was filmed with Mr. Abdeslam at a gas station on a highway to Paris two days before the Nov. 13 attacks. |