Brussels hit by 'blind, violent, cowardly' attacks: Belgian PM

Brussels: Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Brussels was hit early Tuesday by two "blind, violent and cowardly" attacks on its airport and metro system which left many dead and wounded.

"Two attacks took place this morning in Zaventam airport and Maalbeek metro station, blind, violent, cowardly attacks," Michel announced on national television.

 

 

"There are many dead and many wounded, some of them seriously," he said, with the death toll so far put at 28.

''This is a dark moment for our nation. We need calm and solidarity,'' Belgian Prime Minister said adding, ''what we feared has happened.''

 

 

At least 28 people were killed as two deadly explosions rocked the Zaventem airport and another the main metro station, four days after the arrest of the Paris terror attack suspect in the Belgian capital.

In what looked like a coordinated terror strike, a suicide bomber was apparently involved in the airport carnage where two quick explosions just after 8 am left a part of the departure hall looking like a war zone. At least 13 people were killed and over 30 injured, Belgian media said.

 

 

Even as Belgium raised its terror alert to the maximum, a third equally powerful blast occurred - at the Maalbeek Metro station near the European Union building killing at least 10 people.

With Agency inputs