Death Toll Rising, Scores Injured in Brussels Attacks

Passengers are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2016. EPA/BGNES

At least 26 people have been reported dead by different sources following the blasts at Zaventem Airport and the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels.

As many as 136 are described as heavily wounded.

Public broadcaster RBTF cites prosecuting authorities, according to which 11 people have lost their lives in the Zaventem explosions.

STIB, a public transport operator in Brussels puts the death toll at Maelbeek at 15, with 55 injured, 10 in critical condition.

Questions about family or friends who are at the airport > Call (0032) (0)2/753.73.00

— Brussels Airport (@BrusselsAirport) March 22, 2016

Authorities are now suggesting, quoted by local media, that one of the blasts was a result of a suicide attack, while the other was triggered from a distance. A third device was later found that was not detonated.
 

Suivez la conf?rence de presse des autorit?s https://t.co/Q6YSUN8EIv pic.twitter.com/JJOXmPmFRi

— Le Soir (@lesoir) March 22, 2016

 

Images have been released from the carriage where the explosive device was reported to have gone off.

Belgian authorities have said at a press conference they don't know whether the attack was linked to Salah Abdeslam, the man affiliated to the Paris attacks in November of last year who had been on the run for months before being detained by authorities last week.

Prime Minister Charles Michel has said that the government's immediate concern are the victims and the help that should be provided to those injured.