David Dixon, Despite a Reassuring Text Message, Dies in Brussels Attacks

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/world/europe/brussels-attacks-david-dixon.html

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David Dixon had not heard about the explosion at Brussels Airport until a concerned aunt in Britain sent a text message asking if he was safe. He told her he was, and then he made his way to the Maelbeek subway station.

Mr. Dixon, 51, a British software developer who worked for Euroclear, a financial services company, was one of about 20 people killed when a suicide bomb ripped through the station, which he passed through most days on his way to work.

His friends and family waited for three days before his death was confirmed by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Friday.

“This morning, we received the most terrible and devastating news about our beloved David,” his family said in a statement. “At this most painful time, our family would gratefully appreciate it if we could be left alone to grieve in private. Please respect our wishes.”

Originally from Hartlepool, in northern England, Mr. Dixon studied economics at Newcastle University. He moved to Brussels with Charlotte Sutcliffe, his partner, over a decade ago. One photograph distributed by his friends on social media showed Mr. Dixon smiling into the camera and holding the couple’s young son, Henry.

Another photograph showed him in a hoodie, making a goofy face as he stood between two of his friends. In pleas for more information, his friends called him by his nickname: Did.

News of Mr. Dixon’s disappearance quickly spread from Belgium to his hometown, where the local police began assisting Mr. Dixon’s brother in trying to track down information. Back in Brussels, Ms. Sutcliffe drove through the streets and checked hospitals, hoping to find him.

“I’ve had a good laugh with this guy, and he was such a nice person,” one of his friends, Levi Henstock, wrote on Facebook before Mr. Dixon’s death was confirmed. “When is the world going to stop fighting?”

In England, people in the Hartlepool region planned to light candles in his memory.