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BRUSSELS — Federal police in Belgium have issued an arrest warrant for one of the suspects in the Brussels airport bombing, The Associated Press reports.
The revelation comes just hours after the Islamic State group officially claimed responsibility for the Brussels attacks that killed at least 30 people and wounded about 220 more and raised the reality of terror once again in the heart of Europe.
According to CBS News, the attacks were in response to “Belgium’s support of the international coalition arrayed against it.”
Bombs were set off in the airport and in a subway station in central Brussels early Tuesday.
A third bomb was deactivated at the Brussels airport.
Belgian authorities have given U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force officials an apparent surveillance photo of possible suspects in Tuesday’s Brussels terrorist attacks, according to a U.S. law enforcement official.
The photo shows three men pushing luggage carts with black gloves on their hands.
No suspects have been named, and it is unclear how many individuals authorities believe were involved in the attack.
“We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters.
Belgian federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said late Tuesday morning that it was too soon to know exactly how many people died in the bombings.
Yet Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing emergency services, reported 20 dead at the Maelbeek metro station and 14 more killed at Brussels’ international airport.
The Mormon church said three missionaries from Utah were seriously injured during the attack at the airport, reported CBS News.
They were identified as 66-year-old Richard Norby of Lehi, 20-year-old Joseph Empey of Santa Clara and 19-year-old Mason Wells of Sandy.
In addition, a military family was also involved in the bombings.
The Department of Defense released the following statement:
“One U.S. service member and his family who were caught up in this tragedy. Due to privacy concerns, we are not releasing the status of their injuries at this time.”
Closer to home, WREG has confirmed the 20 to 30 students studying at the Freed Hardamen campus in Belgium are all safe.
After the blasts, Belgian authorities hit the streets looking for those tied to Tuesday’s carnage and who might launch more attacks.
Citing judicial sources, RTBF reported that raids were underway midday Tuesday around Brussels, targeting people linked to the attacks.
And at the international airport, a controlled explosion could be heard after troops zeroed in on a suspicious package, according to the Belgian crisis center.
Belgium is no stranger to terror.
Just a few days ago, authorities there captured Europe’s most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam — the latest of many suspected terrorists caught in the small European country.
And a U.S. counterterrorism official said, “The Belgians have been sitting on a ticking time bomb,” given all those who have gone to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, then possibly come back home.
Still, these facts don’t take away the shock and horror of those who lived through Tuesday’s carnage.
“You cannot believe it; you cannot believe it,” said Jef Versele, who was in the airport’s departure hall when bombs exploded there. “It was so insane. Not in my backyard.”
Brussels man: ‘It was a matter of time’
At least one of the two airport explosions was a suicide bombing, Van Leeuw said. A blast happened there outside the security checkpoints for ticketed passengers and near the airline check-in counters, an airline official briefed on the situation said.
The subway station blast happened in the Brussels district of Maelbeek, near the European Quarter, where much of the European Union is based.
Richard Medic, who arrived at the station shortly after that explosion, wasn’t surprised by the carnage after all that Europe has gone through recently, including November’s massacre in Paris that ISIS claimed responsibility for.
“I think, after the Paris attacks, we were assuming something like this would happen,” the Brussels resident told CNN. “And it was a matter of time.”
Yet Versele, the airport witness, said that he thinks Belgians should not hole themselves up.
Instead, he said, they should continue to live their lives and travel “to prove that we’re not afraid of those who have done (the attacks).”
Europe, U.S. on alert as well
Belgian authorities bolstered security after Tuesday’s attacks, including shutting down all Brussels metro stations and evacuating the city’s airport.
This comes as the terror threat level in Belgium went up to four — its highest. That step-up means that army soldiers can be sent onto the streets to meet security needs.
In addition to the airport, broadcaster RTBF reported that the National Pensions Office in Brussels had been cleared after two suspicious packages were found inside.
All but essential staff were also sent home from a nuclear power plant in the eastern city of Tihange, said a representative of Engie, the French company that operates the facility. Belgian authorities ordered this evacuation, though the representative did not provide further details.
The effects of Tuesday’s attacks have been felt outside the Belgian capital as well.
As far away as the United States, authorities in places like New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles took special precautions like increased K9 sweeps of subways and additional police patrols.
This was especially true around airports, subway stops and train stations, with scenes like those in the U.S. capital — where police pulled out and checked travelers at random — not uncommon.
“This is yet another reminder that the world must unite,” U.S. President Barack Obama said from Cuba, where he’s on a historic visit. “We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.”
European leaders spoke up and ordered enhanced security as well.
NATO, the military alliance that is headquartered in Brussels, increased its own alert level and expressed solidarity with Belgium.
“This is a cowardly attack, an attack on our values and on our open societies,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Terrorism will not defeat democracy and take away our freedoms.”
European calls for solidarity
As in other places, British authorities ordered an increased police presence at ports, airports, Tube stations and international train stations, said Prime Minister David Cameron.
Eurostar, a high-speed railway that goes to England and France, noted a number of schedule and other changes, including canceling service between London and Brussels.
Gare du Nord station in Paris, a stop for Eurostar as well as subway trains, was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after an abandoned suitcase was found, police said. Throughout France, 1,600 more police hit the streets after the Brussels attacks, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
“I express my entire solidarity with the Belgian people,” French President Francois Hollande tweeted. “Through the Brussels attacks, the whole of Europe has been hit.”
That sentiment was echoed by Belgium’s Michel during what he called “a dark time for our country.”
“More than ever, I call on everybody to show calm, but also solidarity,” the Prime Minister said. “We are facing a difficult, challenging time. And we should face up to this challenge by being united.”
The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that the country will officially observe three days of mourning Tuesday until March 24.
All flags will be flown at half-mast on all official buildings.
Airport witness: Windows broken, ceiling parts down
That darkness set in soon after sunrise, around 8 a.m. Alphonse Lyoura was doing his job handling bags at Brussels Airport when, he said, he heard someone speaking and then “a huge, strong explosion.”
“It’s horrible,” he told CNN affiliate BFM, recalling a man who’d lost both legs and other grisly scenes. “Belgium doesn’t deserve this.”
In the departure hall, Versele noticed “people … shouting and running around” after the first blast, then even more pandemonium after the second explosion, which was, “in my eyes, much more powerful.”
That blast blew out windows, created a lot of smoke and caused parts of the ceiling to fall, he added.
“People were on the floor,” Versele said, estimating he saw 50 to 60 people on the floor seemingly unable to walk. “… It was quite a mess.”
Traveler Jeffrey Edison had cleared security and was near the gate, several hundred yards from the departure lounge, where the explosions occurred. He told CNN he didn’t hear the blasts but “suddenly saw” 200 to 300 people rushing toward him from the security checkpoint. He estimated that passengers didn’t find out what was going on for about 25 minutes.
Anthony Barrett watched it unfold from his hotel across from the terminal building.
“When I opened the curtains and looked out, I could see people fleeing,” he told CNN — some of the wounded being carried out on stretcher after stretcher, others on luggage trollies.
Officials have not yet named those killed or wounded. The injured at the airport do include three Mormon missionaries — ages 19, 20 and 66 — from Utah, according to the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints.
Soccer star: ‘I wish for Brussels to act with dignity’
About an hour later, during the tail end of Brussels’ rush hour, another blast went off at the Maelbeek metro station.
Sander Verniers was heading toward there when this explosion occurred, producing “strong winds going (through his train) and some noises that shouldn’t be there.” Belgian troops met the passengers as they got off the train and walked along the tracks.
“We all had to get out,” Verniers told CNN. “There was a lot of smoke.”
The Belgian crisis center tweeted that all public transportation in the city has been closed.
“Stay where you are,” it said.
Kristalina Georgieva, the vice president of the European Commission, said that all the organization’s institutions are at “alert level orange” and that all meetings on its premises and outside have been canceled. She advised people to stay at home or indoors.
Abdeslam, who authorities say was involved in the Paris terror attacks last year, was arrested in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek on Friday. Belgium’s Prime Minister deflected a question about whether there’s any link between Tuesday’s bloodshed and Abdeslam’s capture, saying it is too early to tell.
He said Tuesday that he had “no information” about who was responsible for the attack, adding that authorities will find that out, but right now their focus is on caring for the victims.
Belgian national soccer team captain Vincent Kompany tweeted that he was “horrified and revolted (that) innocent people (are) paying the price again,” but he urged people not to encourage those wishing to lash out.
“We must reject hate and its preachers,” Kompany said. “… I wish for Brussels to act with dignity.”
Finding Family and Friends
According to The Associated Press, Facebook has activated its “safety check” system.
The tool is used to help those left in the aftermath of a disaster connect with family and friends to let them know they are safe.
The company said the system was activated just hours after blasts ripped through the airport and metro station.