22/03/2016 BBC News Special

Video footage from the airport shows people running away from the scene.

There are reports of someone shouting in Arabic before shots were

heard. Chaotic scenes followed at the airport which has now been

evacuated and has been closed until further notice. All planes heading

to Zaventem airport have been diverted. Brussels has raised its

security level to maximum across the country. There has also been an

explosion at a metro station close to the main European Union buildings

in the capital. These pictures show black smoke billowing. The Metro

station network is now closing and the EU has ordered its staff who

have arrived at work to remain indoors. There is a wider caution

for all people in Brussels. The Belgian crisis Centre has told

people to stay where they are. All public transport in Brussels has

been closed. The explosions in Brussels come four days after the

capture in the city of Salah Abdeslam, who police say was one of

the men behind the Paris attacks in December. The Belgian Foreign

Ministry warned that the discovery of a cache of weapons meant that

Salah Abdeslam's accomplices could carry out further attacks. Police

say the attacks in Paris which killed 130 people, were largely

planned in Brussels by people linked to Islamic State.

Here, David Cameron has tweeted: I am shocked and concerned by events

in Brussels, we will do everything we can to help.

He said there will be a meeting in Whitehall later this morning. We can

go to our reporter Ben Wright who was outside Brussels airport. What

is the latest? There are reports that 30 people have been killed.

They also say they think at the airport there was one suicide bomber

and one explosive device. We certainly know from eyewitness

accounts that there were two explosions. I heard from an

eyewitness that there was one explosion at the check-in desk of

American Airlines, second at the star Buck -- Starbucks coffee shop.

They are reporting that one was a suicide bomber and one was an

explosive device. There were reports of shouting in Arabic prior to

gunshots being fired and the explosions. What are you hearing?

The same eyewitness reports, I have not confirmed there myself, but that

would seem to be what happened. Everyone here thinks this was a

terrorist attack. It has also been done in coordination with an attack

at either the Maelbeek or Schuman Metro stations. This is the main

International Airport here in Brussels. The explosions happened at

eight o'clock. It was very busy. Commuters heading around to Europe

and some flights to the US but it is mainly an airport which serves

Europe. It would have been packed with commuters. The latest we are

hearing is that 13 people have been killed. It seems to be a

co-ordinated attack with the centre of Brussels as well at the same sort

of time. This comes days after Salah Abdeslam, one of the people involved

in the Paris attacks was finally arrested after a four-month hunt. He

was found in the Molenbeek area which was a centre of radicalised

people. Brussels has been on high alert. There has been a very visible

police presence at Metro stations and on the streets. It has been

non-baiters of alert since the Paris attacks, preparing for something

exactly like this to happen -- it has been on a state of high alert.

There are lots of people walking past with their suitcases, wondering

what has happened. We saw some buses coming from the airport in blankets

and aluminium jackets. Some with blood on their faces and some

crying. Medical personnel were on buses taking them back to the centre

of the city we think. This is clearly an ongoing emergency

situation as they try and bring people who were injured out of the

airport which was evacuated very quickly after these explosions went

off. We are getting reports from eyewitnesses describing the scenes

in the airport as being like a war zone. One person who arrived on a

flight from Geneva before the blast said it was atrocious, the

ceilings collapsed, there was blood everywhere, injured people and bags

everywhere, we were walking in the debris.

It was a war scene. Another eyewitness, who was seen wiping

blood from his face said the Metro was leading the macro leaving --

leaving Maelbeek station. Looking at the pictures of the aftermath of the

airport, with debris all over the ground, large windows blown out and

shattered, it looks like they were pretty large explosions? Yes, that

is what one of the people at the airport told me a few minutes ago.

This airport has huge glass frontages. If there was an explosion

of the size we were hearing about, but would have sent glass from those

windows shattering across the whole of the departure area and causing

injury to many, many people. I imagine that is one of the

consequences of this, the emergency services and paramedics are having

to deal with now, as well as fatalities we are hearing about. We

are hearing from the Flemish national broadcaster that 13 people

have been killed. We await confirmation of how many people have

died. From behind me there is a constant stream of emergency

vehicles and sirens now going back to the city. I saw ten ambulances

come up this road behind me so a huge emergency operation underway.

Thank you. Let's take a look at some of the latest pictures that we are

getting, images of some of those who have been injured in the explosions

at the airport. That is one of the first images which came through of a

man lying injured. Two women sitting injured, looking completely

bewildered, covered in dust. And as people walked away from the

terminal, some of them covered in blood, just in the immediate

aftermath of those two explosions. One caused by a suicide bomber, the

second explosion, another explosive device. The latest report is that 13

people killed in the explosions at the airport, that figure not

confirmed but those are the reports, many of the injured. -- many others

injured. We are hearing that Gatwick Airport is stepping up security.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is preparing to hold an emergency

meeting on the attacks. A spokesman for Brussels said they have

increased their security presence and the trolls around the airport.

We can go to Ian McCafferty who was at the Maelbeek station. I was at a

metro station nearby when the explosion went off at Maelbeek. We

felt it there. What did you see and hear, what were you aware of? It was

allowed, muffled thud. It was clearly audible. There is so much

construction going on so it is hard to discern one noise from another.

Soldiers who are pretty much always on hand around this area were very

quick to evacuate the building. That is when people started running from

the scene and there were a lot of people crying. There was a lot of

confusion. Just explain how far away you were from the explosion. You

were at a different Metro station from Maelbeek but you saw dust and

smoke very quickly? The initial shock of the explosion would have

left a lot of dust all the way through the tunnels, and it was once

we were evacuated from the building, we saw more people out on the

street. It is just the sense of confusion. The Metro station is only

a stones throw away from Maelbeek so if we look down the road we can see

all of the people being evacuated. I have a colleague down there who is

watching things and she is seeing a lot of injured people and they were

being looked after as well. At the moment, there is still a certain

amount of confusion about what is going on and everyone is checking in

to make sure everyone is OK. This was rush hour so the stations would

have been busy. What was it like as people were trying to leave?

Initially, there was a clear sense of panic, but there was nobody

running at first. Like I said, you second-guess these things, this sort

of situation, but you don't really know what is going on. You start

running straightaway. It is not necessary either, but there was, the

Metro station was packed. Like you say, rush-hour, morning time.

Whatever this was was obviously planned for this time. There is a

general sense of confusion. A lot of people out on the streets. The

soldiers were buried quick to try and disperse the crowds. I think at

the moment, like I said, it is just a general consternation that people

are not entirely sure of what is happening, and we are still trying

to get as much information as we can, even on the ground here. What

are you doing now? The Brussels transport authority is saying all

public transport in Brussels is closed. I am in my office at the

moment. My stop, I had just got off the Metro when the explosion took

place and I was only around the corner from my office so we have

been asked to stay indoors for now. A colleague of mine is kind of stuck

somewhere else in the area because she cannot walk along the street

now. We have been advised to stick in here, to stay indoors for now. To

be honest, we are kind of used to this. How would you feel being in

the city with the terror alert raised to its maximum level, and

these events unfolding? In the moment, it is going to be a bit

concerning. In general though, this is not something which permeates

into my personal life all that often. We just tried to get on with

our lives. After what happened in November, we have a strong security

presence here all the time so as much as possible, people just get on

with their lives. This is the height of things right now. There will be a

certain degree of consternation, a certain degree of worry. There are a

lot of people around the world, families saying are you OK, that

will be an added element of pressure there. Are you able to see what is

going on in the streets outside where you are now? Not where I am

right now, but yes, we can look out of the windows and see. There is a

long road which pretty much connects the Brussels city centre to the

European Court, the European Parliament, the European Commission

and European Council. This is the stretch of road that a lot of people

are walking back along, walking away from Maelbeek station. I think all

of the Metro stations here have been evacuated. There are a lot of people

out on the road. How did you get the information that you must stay where

you were, how is information being put out? Various different news

outlets. I am also contracted to work with the European Commission,

so we have our own messaging service will stop it comes from the European

Commission security services who advised that we stay indoors and we

have our own network. It is just a message from a boss or a colleague

saying this, that and the other. Obviously, getting a lot of

information from Twitter as well and a lot of people getting in touch

online, either to say I hope everything is OK, or to say, this is

what is going on. Ian, stay safe, thank you for joining us.

Just to bring you some new information coming to us, we hear

the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London is advising British

nationals to avoid crowded areas and to follow the advice of the Belgian

authorities. And the advice from the Belgian crisis Centre is people

should stay where they are. You rust are saying no trains

running to or from Brussels station. -- Eurostar. They were reported to

be running earlier, but we are now hearing that no trains will run to

or from Brussels station. Let's bring you up to date with all

of the main developments if you are just joining us live from Brussels,

there have been a series of bomb explosions just after 8am local

time, two blasts in the departure area of the Zaventem airport,

followed an hour later by a third blast on the Metro near the Maelbeek

station in the city centre. The Belgian federal prosecutor says at

least 35 are dead, with up to 35 injured. Minutes after the first

blast, people were seen running away from the air or terminal building,

at least one blast is thought to be the work of a suicide bomber. Also

reports of somebody shouting in Arabic before shots were heard. The

airport has been evacuated, it is closed until further notice. All

flights from Brussels have been cancelled and planes heading

there have been diverted. Rail travel to the airport has been

suspended. Tel Jim has raised security to maximum level across the

country. -- Belgium. To correct the casualties figures, the fears of 13

dead, not 30, but this unfolding situation means we are getting

reports all the time, and the number of confirmed dead still one but

there are reports that possibly 13 have been killed and many more

injured, some of them severely, at the explosions at Brussels airport

and the further explosion at the Metro station in the centre of

Brussels. Other explosions at other stations, there have been reports,

but we have had an eyewitness report adjacent to Maelbeek, he heard the

explosion there and the smoke travelled quickly along the tunnel,

which is possibly why there have been reports of attacks at other

adjacent stations. We are staying across those attacks, we will bring

new information as we get it. The blasts in Brussels, four days after

the capture in the city of the suspect who investigators say was

one of the men behind the Paris attacks in November. The Belgian

Foreign Minister warned the discovery of a cache of weapons

suggested his accomplices could be ready to carry out further attacks.

French police say the Paris attacks were largely planned in Brussels by

conspirators linked to so-called Islamic State. David Cameron will be

chairing a meeting of the Government's emergency committee in

response to the attacks. He has said he is shocked and concerned by the

events in the Belgian capital. The Foreign Office has updated its

advice to British nationals in Brussels, it is urging people to

avoid crowded areas and follow the advice of Belgian authorities. Let's

go to Brussels airport. Thank you for joining us, what is the

situation now? I was in terminal eight, four flights to Europe, it

was very busy. I did not see or hear the explosion come because it was on

the other terminal, but it was very chaotic and confused, and not know

what was going on. We were evacuated, we walked along the

tarmac, we did not know what was going on. We were taken to a cargo

area of the airport. There is a big warehouse, and everybody is standing

around, waiting. Occasionally a fire engine will go past with siren song,

but nobody knows what is happening, people huddling under blankets that

have been handed out, other people handing out water, but nobody knows

what is going on. How much have you been able to see the impact of those

explosions? Incredible pictures from inside the terminal, which show the

damage caused by the explosion, and those huge glass windows chatters,

all indicating these were large explosions. It has been difficult to

see anything, because I woke up and down, there are lots of windows, but

I could not see anything, so it must have happened out of sight from

where we were. They must have taken is for as possible away for safety

reasons. I have to assume they have taken us as for away as possible.

Stay with us, I want to bring in a reporter who witnessed the aftermath

of the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station. Tell us what you saw and

heard. I was outside the Maelbeek station, there were a dozen, 15

people on the ground outside, covered in white sheets, they seemed

to be injured, I did not see anybody dead, but I was on the outside of

the station, looking at the scene. There were people milling around,

the ambulances and fire trucks were having difficulty getting through,

because Maelbeek is on a one-way street, and it was blocked at the

time, very difficult for people to get around the actual scene. There

were some police on the scene who were tending to the wounded, but it

seemed like there were no ambulances at that point. As we talk to you, we

can see pictures from inside the tunnel, people walking along, very

smoky. We both speaking to somebody who was in an adjacent Metro station

when the explosion happened, they heard it and the smoke travelled

quickly down the tunnel. Does that explain the confusion as to why

there may have been explosions at other Metro stations, or does it

seem like there has been more than one attack? We can only confirm the

attack on Maelbeek, we have reporters on the ground at another

station where there were reports of an attack, they did not see any sign

of an attack, it seemed that was a false alarm. As far as I can tell,

this was a case of the smoke and sound travelling through the

tunnels, but there are no open formations at this point. We have

reporters at stations surrounding. At all those stations, there are no

confirmed reports of bombs. What are the reports on where the explosion

was apparently detonated? Was that under the ground

or closer to the entrance of the station? It was not on the ground

level at the top of the station. I could not see any damage on the

outside of the station from both sides of the street. It seems like

it was probably down within the station itself, but we don't know

exactly whether it was on the platform or further up. We are just

getting a report, nobody killed in the explosion inside Brussels Metro

carriage. The first report of casualties or not in the Metro

station, but it also indicates the explosion happened inside the Metro

carriage. This was rush hour. It was a bit after rush hour, after 9am, so

there would have been many people in the Metro, but it was a case of

people getting lucky this time. Once people heard about the Brussels

airport attacks, there was a general feeling that people should not take

the Metro, certainly within my office. We were talking about not

being on the Metro, because it was too dangerous. That would have

helped matters, because people were naturally cautious to go underground

after the attacks. What is the situation now? People are being told

to stay where they are, and the transport network is effectively

shut down. Yes, the trams and Metro are shut. They were progressively

shutting it down, it is incredible that they did not do it immediately

after the attacks at the airport, but nonetheless everything is being

shut down. Are there many people on the street? My office faces the

street, there are some people on the streets, there were many on the

streets when I was down at Maelbeek at 9:15am, 9:30am. Now it seems like

there are lots more emergency services, people are trying to get

people to stay put. The reports talk of what seems to have been a pretty

calm reaction by people to these explosions as they were unfolding.

Does that describe how you saw it? I found it quite incredible, because

as I was running to Maelbeek, I passed lots of people, they did not

know something was going on. There was an audible police presence, but

people are now so used to silence, it just seemed like another day. --

sirens. You could smell the explosion, people would have heard

it. But they seemed to be quite happy to be milling around, around

20 to 30 metres down the road from where the blast had happened. Thank

you. Details coming through all the time,

bring us up to date. At the start of this morning, the main International

Airport in Brussels, one, possibly to explosions there, we know 13

people have been killed, and many more injured quite a large blast,

judging by the pictures. Very soon after, another explosion at the

Maelbeek Metro station, I know it well, it is about 500 metres from

the council building and the European Commission. They are an

hour ahead of us, it would have been rush hour, people trying to get into

work into the EU building. Very busy at that time. We are hearing from

one of the Brussels channels that ten people may have been killed at

that station, so 23 possibly killed so far, but that will be a death

toll that may change through the day. Looking at the pictures, people

will recognise some of them, because they are familiar to those who will

have watched 7th of July and how that unfolded, people not knowing

where to go, some deciding to walk home, the emergency services not

knowing where to go, occurs multiple reports are coming in, you get

echoes of explosions, so they go to wrong places, and they have multiple

sites for explosions, so trying to send the right people to the right

places proved difficult. But the modus operandi very familiar now, to

try and divide the emergency services to create as much confusion

and fear in the city, and a very big job for the Brussels authorities.

This is a city in lockdown. Yes, but this is not the time for

recriminations, but there will be questions about why it was not

already at the highest level of security, because there was a review

for the raid on the apartment, and it became clear pretty quickly that

there were other people that we did not know about who had and is in the

flag, a huge cache of arms, and a man who they were not really looking

for, who worked in a factory in Brussels who had gone to Syria, he

came back, he had been in the country a matter of months, and was

prepared to die, because he stayed behind and had this confrontation

with police. From that, it has been a fast-moving story, the Prime

Minister called a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, they reviewed

the security situation, they decided to keep it one below the highest

level. In November, after the Paris attacks, it was at the highest

level, all of these Metro stations were closed down, the Central

Station, colleges, schools, universities, the city was in

lockdown while they got on top of it. But while it is not time for

recriminations, there will be questions about the Belgian police

and the operation to track down some of the members of this cell. What

are you hearing via the news agencies about what is going on at

other airports? Because security is being stepped up, Gatwick Airport in

London... The European authorities are reviewing their security, David

Cameron is calling a meeting of the emergency committee, Eurostar

terminal 's close down, I think the train from Paris to Brussels is

being closed down, everything coming into the station, which is difficult

to police, because it has multiple entrances. But I would think they

would shut that station down almost immediately. Lots of people stuck on

trains heading to Brussels at the moment. I would suspect in Berlin,

Paris, London, everybody working quickly to ascertain what they can.

In these situations, they want to close borders, because we know how

quickly people flee the scene, we saw that after the Paris attacks.

There will be tightened security at the borders heading out of Brussels

and towards France and Germany. For people just joining us, bring us up

to date on the latest of the casualties figures. Multiple

explosions at. At least one explosion, I am loathe to call it

two, because we do not know, but certainly one in the International

Airport this morning, reports that shots were fired, exchanges in

Arabic were heard, reports of perhaps a suicide bomber in the

International Airport, and quickly after, we had a report from the

Maelbeek Metro station, 500 metres from the European Commission

building, down the road from the council building, very busy at rush

hour, we hear that 13 of thought to have been killed so far at the

airport in Russells and another ten at the Maelbeek station, which would

make 23, but very early days. The death toll rises through the day. We

will have to keep an eye on that. Our Brussels correspondent Ben

Wright is at the airport. He spoke to an eyewitness when the explosions

happened this morning. Everyone was running the same way because the

explosion was that the left side so everyone was running the other side.

One explosion was on one side of the building and then there was another

explosion? How close were they? Very close. The first one was at the

American Airlines desk. The second explosion was nearby the Starbucks

coffee shop. It was like, I don't know... It was like 100 metres from

each other. Was one of them nearer the entrance? Yes. So if people were

running from the first, they were running in the direction of the

second? Is that is what you think may have happened? Yes. That is the

order they went off, the two explosions?

Yes. Let's bring in our security correspondent Frank Gardner in the

studio. There were concerns about an attack after the arrest of Salah

Abdeslam? Yes, I don't think anyone will be particularly surprised that

an attack has taken place. Really, ever since the Charlie Hebdo attacks

in Paris, way back in January last year, more than a year ago, there

has clearly been a number of cells on the loose, inspired by or

directed by so-called Islamic State with access to weapons and

explosives. The French and Belgian authorities, while working much

better now through a joint investigation system they do, they

have been playing catch up. They have not had a very good system of

sharing intelligence between them, and the Belgians in particular, have

been very remiss at getting their intelligence agencies to share

information with police. The police are often thrashing around in the

dark, and in some cases, depending on links with the British police, to

hear what their own intelligence agencies are thinking, which is

pretty shocking. They are where we were in Britain about 15 years ago,

in terms of coordinating police, security and intelligence

information. Coupled with that, you have got the fact there is no

comparison there for the sort of community policing which is being

done in Britain. British communities, particularly Muslim

communities, have been very good at reporting suspicious behaviour. A

lot of plots have been stopped because of good citizenship. That

has not happened in Belgium. There are very bad community relations

between the police and communities in Belgium, particularly the area

where Salah Abdeslam was able to go to ground for four macro months,

right under the noses of the authorities, because they do not

have a grip on what is happening in the area. We can see pictures of the

aftermath of the attack at the airport. We can see some of the

people injured in the explosions. Quite graphic images. These are

injuries which were caused by that explosion. These pictures emerged

quite quickly after the explosion, people looking shocked, covered in

dust. Descriptions of the ceiling in the departures area of the airport

caving in and blood everywhere after the two explosions in the departures

hall. People walking away in the immediate aftermath of those

explosions. Frank, Russell being the focus of that terrorist activity,

you mentioned Molenbeek, tell us more about that area -- Brussels

being the focus. It is an area of very high proportion of unemployment

and people whose families originally came from Rocco. They were brought

in from cheap Labour essentially, but when that Labour dried up,

unemployment rose. Large families, a lot of distrust of central

authority, no feeling of real belonging. Belgium is an odd country

in the sense anyhow, that you have Flemish people and the Wellens.

French speaking people in the South, and the Flemish speaking people in

the north. There are 16 different agencies. It is quite a mixed place.

For a long time, Molenbeek has allowed to essentially been

segregated from much of the country and the rest of the capital. It is

only about 15 minutes from the central Brussels. It is not a no-go

area, but it is an area where police are not welcome. It is an area where

Salah Abdeslam and other ices operatives were able to come in and

out of pretty much at will. It is also the place where sadly,

radicalisation can happen very quickly, where people say oh, he was

such a nice guy, he used to come in and have a drink, I cannot believe

it was him. Six weeks later he was popping up in rack and Syria or he

is on a wanted list. -- Raqqa. Belgium has got a lot of

soul-searching to do. Way back before 9/11, Al-Qaeda, remember

them? Al-Qaeda said two Belgian passport holders of Moroccan origin

to Afghanistan to assassinate the man to take over Afghanistan if he

had not been killed, quite possibly. They posed as Belgian TV journalists

and they had a bomb inside their camera. They set up the tripod in

his safe place in Afghanistan and they said Wright, we are ready to

start filming, and blew him and themselves up.

We have just heard from the Belgian prosecutor that the explosion in

Brussels was a suicide attack. I am not sure whether that refers to the

airport explosion or the Metro explosion. The Belgian prosecutor

confirming that it was a suicide attack. And not the first suicide

attack on the streets of Europe? No, we had Madrid and the London

bombings. Way back in 1985, there were groups, nothing to do with

modern day jihadis, I think it was Palestinian extremists who attacked

Rome and Vienna airports. More recently, Glasgow airport comedy

remember roughly in 2008, some people linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq

round a jeep into Glasgow airport, hoping to detonate a fuel air

explosion, it did not work. The guy was on fire and I think he died

after that. The fact is, there are cells in continental Europe with

access to weapons and explosives. They have almost certainly planned

this some time ago but brought forward their planning after the

capture of Salah Abdeslam last week. So much security in airports but our

departure area is a soft target? They have CCTV. The array 's do this

very subtly. -- the Israelis. There is not much visible security but

that backpacker has an area place -- that backpacker has an earpiece and

he is peering into the bins to see what someone has discarded. There

are a lot of people watching. Similar things happen at British

airports but not to the same extent. Some people would say that is a bit

of an Achilles heel. Frank, thank you. We can go live to Westminster.

Norman Smith is at Westminster where the Cabinet will be meeting for a

Cobra meeting. The Prime Minister will move here

from the Cabinet meeting in down Street just around the corner, --

Downing Street. He will bring with him the Home Secretary and the

Defence Secretary. They will try and pull together all the information

about what is happening in Brussels. There will be two purposes. One is

to bring in the information from Brussels, the second is to reassure

people in Britain, in terms of the transport network, with transport to

the airport and a threat to the underground. I should say, the

security services here have conducted a number of trial runs of

possible attacks on the Underground. We had one back in June at the old

Aldwych station just up the road, similar to an attack and then in

December they see related a role in attack on an office block. The

security services here have prepared for this sort of eventuality, but at

the end of the day, there is probably nothing the security

services can absolutely do to avoid the sort of attacks. It comes down

to intelligence gathering and the public as well, to people being

aware and being alert, and keeping their eyes open. I'm sure that will

be part of the message we hear after the Cobra meeting, and appealed for

people to be vigilant and beyond their guard. At the same time, we

will no doubt see a marked increase in security, in London, a much

higher visible presence, to offer a degree of reassurance. In terms of

security services in different countries working together in the

aftermath of this, is that something that will also be discussed there?

Absolutely. We have a degree tragically, of experience of this

with the 77 London bombings, the attacks on the Underground, so we

have some knowledge of the situation now facing the authorities in

Brussels and that information will be passed over. I expect we will

inevitably see tighter control at airports and ports, in terms of who

is coming into the country and who is going out of the country, and we

will offer what sort of medical support might be needed. Specialist

medical support might be needed. Above all, intelligence advice which

might assist the authorities in Brussels. The core, I suspect, of

the Prime Minister's message today will be to try and reassure people

here that everything that can be done is being done, and that we do

have in place pretty rigorous security procedures, but with an

appeal for people to be alert, to be vigilant, and to be on their guard.

Thank you, Norman. In Brussels, people are being told

to stay where they are in the aftermath of those explosions. All

public transport in Brussels has closed. Let's bring in Christian

Fraser. I'm seeing the latest pictures from inside the airport in

the aftermath of this bomb and there are a lot of flames and an awful lot

of damage. 13 killed I think would be conservative estimate at the

moment, although that is what we are hearing from the Belgian

authorities. Also from the American Airlines desk. There was a flight

due to go out from the International Airport this morning which has been

cancelled, but presumably, there would have been a lot of Americans

in and around that area at that time. The other explosion at the

Maelbeek station near the European Council building. People standing in

adjacent stations down the line and the explosion so there was confusion

for a time about maybe there had been multiple explosions but

significant to kill ten people at that station. Confusion in Brussels.

Emergency services flying around the city. Colleagues in the Brussels

office say you can hear sirens all around the city. A lot of confusion,

as it was here after the 7/7 attacks. You can see people walking

home, not knowing whether to stay in their offices, people trying to call

loved ones to find out where they are. Phone signals are blocked. All

the international connections have seized. We are hearing that the

connection from Paris to Brussels, they have been told to get off the

train. Eurostar has stopped and all flights into Brussels has stopped

until six o'clock tomorrow morning. Brussels in a state of virtual

lockdown at the minute. And there were fears there may be an attack?

The Security Council met in Brussels on Tuesday but they decided to keep

it at three which was a low the highest level. Now security is at

the highest level. Thank you. There have been two explosions at

Brussels airport and a blast in the Metro, at least 13 have been killed

in the capital and 35 injured. There was a huge explosion which

shattered all the glass from the front of the airport.

Belgian media say suicide attackers are responsible for the explosions.

Russells is now on its highest level of terror alert, the airport has

been evacuated and close, all flights are cancelled. The blasts

hit the departure hall near the American Airlines check-in desk. We

will bring you all of the details. As smoke poured from a Metro

station, the entire network was shut down.

Let's bring you up to date. There has been a series of bomb explosions

in Brussels. A little after 8am local time there were two blasts in

the departure area at the Belgian capital's Zaventem airport, followed

an hour later by a third blast on the Metro close to the main EU

buildings. It is feared at least 13 are dead with up to 35 injured. The

Belgian authorities have referred to the explosions at the airport and

Metro as terror attacks, the city is in lockdown. Video footage shows

people running away from the scene and smoke rising from a terminal

building. The blasts were close to the American Airlines desk. Chaotic

scenes followed, the airport has been evacuated, and is closed. All

flights from Brussels have been cancelled and planes heading there

are being diverted. Rail travel to the airport has been suspended. I'll

jump has raised security levels to maximum level for -- Belgium.

Hundreds of people fled, one witness said they ran towards the second,

larger blast when running away from the first explosion.

You felt the explosion? Yes. There was glass over me.

We saw some smashed windows. We did not get any information. Did you see

or hear the explosion? No, but I walked through a lot of stuff,

glass, metal, smoke, water dripping through the ceiling, we walked

through puddles, we were evacuated. I was just waiting for my suitcase,

and then somebody said, this is an evacuation. We were taken outside.

That was what happened at the airport, and explosion also took

place at a Metro station close to the EU institutions, injuring more

than a dozen people. Shortly after those blasts rocked the city's

airport. This local reporter was caught up in the chaos near Maelbeek

station. I am in the Brussels European Court,

right next to the European Commission, the scene here is

extremely strange. There are ambulances everywhere, army trucks

passed by, some areas have been cordoned off. The whole Brussels

metro is now closed. I am right next to Maelbeek Metro. The press is not

allowed nearby. There are a lot of ambulances. I am counting six or

seven. We thinking there might be some people injured nobody is

allowed in. The explosions come four days after

the capture in the city of Salah Abdeslam, who investigators say was

one of the men behind the Paris attacks last November. After his

arrest the Belgian Foreign Minister warned the discovery of a cache of

weapons suggested that his accomplices could be ready to carry

out further attacks. Two people connected to Salah Abdeslam are

still missing. French police say the attacks in Paris which killed 130

people were largely planned in Brussels by conspirators linked to

so-called Islamic State. In London David Cameron will chair a meeting

of the emergency committee in response to the attacks in Brussels.

He has said he is shocked and concerned by the events. On the line

now, a Conservative MEP in the European Parliament building close

to where the Metro station explosion took place. Did you see or hear

anything? No, it was just around the corner, so we did not. But now there

is big evidence of a lot of emergency service vehicles, police

on the streets, guns, and streets being sealed off.

Tell us more about what you can see around you. Very little, because you

cannot get near to where it is will stop --. My office is not looking

over the station, it is just around the corner.

But there is a very high level of police and troops in the area now.

As you have said earlier, the whole of Brussels is in lockdown, no

public services, the Metro is cancelled, no buses, and so the city

is a little traumatised. What is happening in the European Parliament

building? I gather it is in lockdown, we cannot move in or out,

people are going about their normal business, what a lot of meetings

have had to be cancelled, because people cannot get in. I suspect we

are waiting anxiously on events. The city is now on its highest state of

alert, it had not been on that prior to these explosions. Hindsight is a

wonderful thing, but you are bound to presume this is all to do with

the arrest of a number of suspects from the Paris bombings. If so, one

of the things which police did reveal is that the network or

community supporting Islamic State here in Brussels is much bigger than

we had presumed before. The ability to mount an operation like this with

such speed. We were on a level three security, but with wisdom of

hindsight you would wonder, knowing as we did for days ago what was

going on, we could not have done more. But that is easily set now.

What will be challenges be for the security services in Belgium? It is

a challenge which all security services need to be aware of,

because there clearly is a problem in Belgium, and the reach of that,

thinking about the Paris bombings, the ability to reach into other

capital cities is very great, and therefore quite obviously the

European nations need to think in terms of all being in this together,

sharing resources, and specifically in terms of intelligence, it is

obvious that until now we have not been doing enough of that. In the UK

we can take a certain about of confidence or comfort from the fact

that we have been reasonably successful because we learned our

lessons from the bombings on 7/7, but you can be never complacent. But

there was not enough sharing of information between the Belgian and

French authorities for the Paris attacks. We had to up our game,

gathering and sharing intelligence. Let's go to our reporter outside

Brussels airport. What is the latest? I am as near to the airport

terminal as we can get. A lot of people coming down this path behind

me from the airport. You can see them in the background. We have seen

airport workers, people who work on the ground, baggage handlers, people

working on the front desks, and lots of passengers, who have made it

here, pulling their luggage, some of whom had already gone through

departures on the other side, many were in the terminal when the

explosions went off. Eyewitnesses say there were two explosions, the

first one was smaller, and a much bigger second one, that had the

light and flash and bank, and that is the one that brought all of the

glass down, or a lot of it, and has caused the injuries and fatalities.

There are unconfirmed reports about numbers. Local media report 13 dead

at the airport. That is not confirmed by police, that is what

Belgian national media are reporting. The explosions here seem

to have happened almost simultaneously, there was an

explosion at the Maelbeek mail -- Metro station. We are about seven or

eight kilometres from the centre of the city, but there was an explosion

on the Metro, right at the heart of the political area of Brussels, near

the European Commission. Reports of injuries and fatalities, but numbers

not confirmed. There is a slightly calmer atmosphere now. For the first

hour, there was an expected melee of emergency services, huge numbers of

ambulances and police, the roads were cordoned off. Now there are

Anne Boleyn says, and small buses full of passengers, some of whom

clearly have had injuries, being taken towards the city. I am joined

by somebody now, you were at the airport? You are on the BBC. Tell

me, what would you doing this morning? The explosion was at 8am

local time, 7am in the UK. I was having my break, I was inside the

building. We heard a loud bang, everything was shaking. We looked

outside the window, there was smoke coming out of the departure hall.

They are doing construction work, so we thought maybe something went

wrong. But soon everything became clear that it was a terrorist

explosion. Did you hear or see the explosions? I felt and heard them,

our office is 50 or 60 metres from the departure hall where it was. Did

you see the departure hall after the explosions? From the outside, we saw

the windows were shattered. I did not go inside the hall. You did not

get a sense of the casualties or number of people? I just heard there

were 11 fatalities, but I think there will be way more, because 8am

is rush hour. It was packed? For sure. The worst time. An immediate

evacuation. The airport is only here, it has taken you a while. We

had to stay outside on the tarmac for more than an hour will stop --.

Waiting for instructions. Then we were in guided inside the hangar,

and we had to walk here and wait for further instructions, and hopefully

we can go home. You work in the airport, the security has always

been very high, especially in the last few months will stop it

happened in the departure hall. It is open to the public, everybody can

go in and out. There were some military guys patrol and there, but

everybody can walk in and out, so it is easy to do something like that.

The security is when you want to enter... When you go towards the

gates. Yes, there is all the security, passport control. But

everybody can walk in and out the airport. It is open to the public.

You are shocked's of course. A few months ago, there were some attacks

that they prevented, everybody was afraid that something like this

would happen. You could see it happen now. Two days ago they caught

the guy that was responsible for the Paris attacks, I think this is a

revenge attack. Thank you for talking to us. Another eyewitness

from the scene, trying to work out where he goes next. There are lots

of shaken people, it has gone quiet for the moment, but the evacuation

seems to have been wrapped up, people are out of the airport, and

the injured have been taken away. Thank you very much. That is the

confusion for people who are leaving the airport and trying to get

anywhere else around Brussels, because the transport network is

shut down, the city is on lockdown. Just watching the screens, the

interior minister in France is just speaking and see if we can listen

in. He is still in French, but there is

a French interest in this. There will be a lot of interaction

between the French and Belgian authorities. The Liberation

newspaper is reporting that the border between France and Belgium

has been closed. They will want to make sure that the borders are

checked. European capitals are reviewing their security. Let me

just bring you up to date for our viewers about the situation here in

the UK. Gatwick and Heathrow Airport are saying they have stepped up

security this morning. You might find at your departure gates this

morning, things are an awful lot slower and delays to airlines

leaving London today. Also, an important one here from Bristol

Airport, they are reporting that they are cancelling all flights

until six o'clock tomorrow morning. KLM and Brussels airlines fly out of

Bristol to Brussels quite regularly. They have quite a connection to

Brussels airport. They will be closed while they review their

security until six o'clock. Eurostar has been stopped so no trains going

to Brussels from King's Cross St Pancras and no trends from Paris to

Brussels either. Belgium at the moment virtually in lockdown, as

capitals tend to be when we see these sort of attacks. We have some

extraordinary pictures coming in from the departure area where the

explosion happened this morning. There is the map. You can see the

area circled there. I think we can hear from the French interior

Minister and I think we have an English translation.

TRANSLATION: All the instructions to take the necessary measures to

enforce with the security in the railway station, airports and ports.

This is the case where the police prefect, and my instructions have

deployed 400 extra police, especially at the main railway

stations, public spaces and reserve zones. It is also the case all over

the territory, that 600 other policemen have been deployed

already. Other measures have been decided regarding public transport.

Access to public zones for public transport are reserved for people

who carry transport cards or identity cards. Number two,

preventative message and raising awareness will be broadcast for the

public. Number three, military patrols will be deployed on these

sites, so to help the forces already in place. Other measures of control

will be systemised and used. Generally speaking, these which hit

at the heart of the European Union show the demands we have formulated

to reinforce the coordination and to fight against terror, on the

European and international level. I am thinking of putting in place a

plan, and I'm thinking about the consultation over the control of the

Schengen access. Those who are using the Schengen system should be

interrogated, once they take steps on European territory. Criminal

files should be related to the Schengen issue and the fight

against. Humans and papers, and we should mobilise the best experts

from our countries, and we should put in place as soon as possible,

within the European Union, it is imperative and essential, to have a

vigilance, a great vigilance against the danger that we are facing with

cold blood, with calm, that we have to act on all subjects. This is what

I have stated regarding cooperation between two countries. In

trafficking that this should be the subject of reinforced initiative and

a decision to modify the directive 91, that cannot wait any more. The

president, the Republic and the Prime Minister have reminded us on

France's decision to fight and defeat terrorism. This is what we

have been doing for the past few months, with regard the escalation

and the consolidation of our forces, and the rigorous application within

the state of law and the state of emergency, we will pursue this

action faced with another threat. I have said on Saturday and I will

repeat it again, the threat is at the highest level, thank you. That

is the interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. He was one of the first

on the scene at the Bataclan Theatre with President Hollande on the night

of the attacks in December. The French working closely with the

Belgians after the raid on Friday. There is an awful lot they don't

know about their own terrorist attack in Paris. Just hearing from

UK police that presence is being stepped up at key locations

including transport hubs, as a precaution after the explosions in

Brussels. Security being stepped up in other European capitals as well.

This will not come as a surprise to read the government in France or

Belgium, because it has become clear over the last week or so that they

were dealing with a much bigger cell that they might have first

anticipated. President Hollande talked about that the other day.

They have recovered a huge cache of weapons. Obviously, Salah Abdeslam

is a focus at the moment. It is not necessarily a revenge attack this,

but it is designed to show they have a great capability. The cell in

Molenbeek in Belgium has been closely entwined with the drug trade

and criminal fraternity. Salah Abdeslam has been able to move from

safe house to save house, because they are connected with a drug scene

which the local police do not know about. And talking about the

increased security response, France is deploying an extra 1600 police at

Borders, railways and airports. Belgium said it will hire an extra

1000 armed police including snipers and 300 would be deployed to the

Molenbeek area. They knew there was this sort of threat in their midst.

The problem is, the policing system in Belgium is pretty archaic. The

sharing of intelligence between local police and the intelligence

agencies is so slow and it has to come with judicial orders, and that

is just within Belgium itself. You can imagine the difficulties of

sharing intelligence an investigation like Paris between

Belgium and France. It has been so laboured over the course of the last

few months, that it has been a huge frustration to the likes of Bernard

Cazeneuve the interior minister, who we just heard from. He said they

need to share intelligence better than they do at the moment, and get

to grips with the flow of weapons in central Europe. Every time they go

into these apartments as they did on Tuesday, they pick up a Kalashnikov

weapon, a weapon of war, 11 cases of rounds of ammunition, and off to

keep police at bay for an entire day and that is what happened.

Thank you. Let's bring you a statement from the National lead for

counterterrorism policing in London. Our thoughts are with the people of

Brussels following this morning's horrific attacks. As a precaution,

forces across the UK have increased police presence at key locations

including transport hubs, to protect the public and provide reassurance.

This is not in relation to any specific information or

intelligence. In London, the Metropolitan Police Service has

mobilised extra officers who will carry out highly visible patrols at

key locations around the capital. The number of officers deployed will

be regularly assessed. These additional officers are deployed as

part of reassurance measures. The police presence across London and

the UK is constantly under review. We are in close liaison with the

Belgian authorities and will continue to monitor the situation.

The threat to the UK from international terrorism will remain

severe as it has since August 2014, meaning an attack is highly likely.

We'll urge the public and businesses to be alert but not alarmed, and

report anything suspicious to the confidential anti-terrorist hotline.

We can now speak to a man at Brussels airport who saw the

aftermath of the blast. We can also talk to Doctor David low, a former

counterterrorism officer and lectures in crime at Liverpool John

Moores University. First of all, tell us what you saw? Can you hear

us? OK, unfortunately he cannot hear us. We will try to talk to him at

the moment. David, we are hearing that security is being stepped up.

Is a departures area of an airport, Inc spite of increased security

always going to be a soft target? I think it is always likely to be the

weakest link. As most people know, over the last ten years or so, we

have seen heightened but it is once you get past check-in. It might

become a sad day that we are going to have to step up security at the

departure lounge area. Of course, it will inconvenience passengers more,

because the bottom line is keeping people safe. Is it clear what could

be done? It is one of those, where if we start to get too paranoid, I

know it sounds strange with what has gone on today, we start get paranoid

about stepping up security all the time, this is in one way the impact

of the terrorism factor. It is about as trying to live our lives as

normally as possible, it is getting that balance right between ensuring

safety and normality. I think at the moment, certainly over the last few

months, within Europe, you have seen increased cooperation between the

police forces and security... David, we must join Oris Johnson.

-- we must join Boris Johnson. Well come up with just caught the

very end thereof Boris Johnson talking about increasing the police

presence of London. There will be additional officers who have been

mobilised and talking about that as part of reassurance measures. David,

I hope you are still with us. In terms of providing reassurance, how

much can be done at underground stations, because this was also an

attack on the Metro in Brussels, which again, is an environment which

is very different from an airport in terms of security all around the

world? Unfortunately, I think we have lost David Lowe. Let me bring

in Christian Fraser in the studio. There will be lots of questions

about how this gets addressed, London has experienced attacks. That

is the striking thing, looking at these pictures, how reminiscent it

is of 7/7, and the confusion we all felt trying to get in touch with

relatives, trying to get into work, deciding do we carry on to the

office or go back home? And then the sound of sirens which reverberates

around the city, the panic that there is. We have seen some sad

pictures this morning of people really not knowing where to go,

people running from the airports, cowering under bridges and the

distressing pictures of emergency services dealing with the injuries.

The first responders on the scenes, they see some horrific sights and

our hearts go out to them. And also very difficult for the politicians.

I think we will hear from the Belgian Prime Minister in the not

too distant future. He gave comments about how difficult it was for

locking down the city. He said I prefer for people to think we were

little too strong in our response than two feeble. This is not a time

for repair ruminations that people will look at that statement and the

sort of jocular nature there was at a press conference there was on

Friday, between him and President Hollande, as if he was a little too

relaxed about the situation. They reviewed security on to spend

Wednesday, they kept the security level at three below the highest

level, and now they will be looking at that

with the beauty of hindsight saying all the signs were pointing towards

something else. We have arrested 54 people since the Paris attacks, 11

people in custody, and two people linked to Salah Abdeslam still on

the run. We don't know about the other person

who drove with Salah Abdeslam. We knew of two other people, not to

mention the bigger cell that they have talked about, which was much

bigger than they might have anticipated. Belgium is sending 225

extra troops to Brussels following the explosions. At least 13 people

dead. More troops going to Brussels as the city is effectively in rock

down. Let's bring you up to date, there has been a series of

explosions in Brussels this morning, golden prosecutors say two

explosions at the airport were suicide attacks, they happened soon

after 8am local time in the departure area. It was followed an

hour later by a third blast on the Metro close to the main EU

buildings, at least 13 of reported dead at the airport, with reports of

ten others killed on the Metro, which had just left Maelbeek

station. Security has been raised to the maximum level across the

country. People run away from the scene of the explosions and smoke

rose from a terminal building. The airport has been evacuated and is

closed until further notice. All flights from Brussels have been

cancelled and planes heading there are being diverted. Rail travel to

the airport has been suspended. You restore into Brussels also

suspended. The explosion on the Metro close to the main EU

buildings, these pictures of the immediate aftermath show black smoke

below link from the entrance. The entire Metro network in Brussels is

closed, the EU has ordered its staff who have arrived at work to remain

indoors. That is the message to all in Brussels today, stay where you

are a the message from the Belgian crisis centre. Hundreds of people

fled the scenes of the blast, one witness said that by running away

from the initial small explosion at the airport, they ran towards the

second larger blast. Here are some of the commuters caught up in the

horrific incidents. We felt the explosion. There was

some glass over my site. We only saw some smashed windows. We

did not get any information. Did you see or hear the explosion? I walked

through a load of stuff, glass, smoke, water dripping from the

ceiling, we had to walk through puddles armour and we were

evacuated. I was just waiting for my suitcase, and somebody said over the

loudspeaker, this is an evacuation will stop we were taken outside.

The blast in Brussels, four days after the capture in the city of

Salah Abdeslam, who investigators say was one of the men behind the

Paris attacks last November. After his arrest the Belgian Foreign

Minister warned the discovery of a cache of weapons suggested that his

accomplices could be ready to carry out further attacks. French police

said the attacks in Paris which killed 130 people were largely

planned in Brussels by conspirators linked to the so-called Islamic

state. No group has yet claimed response ability for the attacks

today. Well Jim is sending an additional 225 troops to Brussels --

Alger. In the UK police are increasing their presence in key

locations, the Met police have said additional officers will be on

patrol, including on the London transport network. David Cameron

will chair a meeting of the emergency committee in response to

the attacks. The Terry Lovell in the UK remains severe, means an attack

is highly likely -- the terror level. Oris Johnson has been

speaking. It is a terrible event, our thoughts

are with the victims, their families. I want to stress that we

know of no immediate implications for this city, although we are

stepping up the present at transport hubs and major airports. But that

has bothered to do with any information, is purely for

reassurance. -- nothing to do. We are stepping up presence in major

airports and transport hubs, but that is purely for reassurance, it

does not reflect any intelligence we have about the threat to this city.

That is Boris Johnson talking about the increased security in London, it

is a picture replicated in other European cities, security is also

being stepped up in Paris, with 1600 extra officers being deployed across

France. Let's look at some of the pictures of the injured being

treated outside Maelbeek station. The initial aftermath of that

explosion indicated that they could have been several explosions, but it

seems that it was effectively the noise of the explosion at Maelbeek

reverberating down the Underground lines. We spoke to one eyewitness at

a station adjacent to Maelbeek, talking about the dust filling the

Underground line. People evacuating the adjacent stations. Pictures of

people being treated on the street right outside Maelbeek. Kristian,

what is the latest on casualties at Maelbeek? It has been a confusing

picture, we have had reports from people who thought it was a car

bomb, but we have heard from other eyewitnesses who said it was inside

the station. Some say that none were injured, some say ten were killed.

We should stick with the state broadcaster, who says ten were

killed. These are the first responders that were on the scene.

There was confusion because they thought there had been an explosion

just down the line from Maelbeek, but apparently the echoes were

reverberating through the terminal, so it was up this station. Sadly,

emergency services train for this all the time, a multiple attack on a

city, with suicide explosions and gunfire and secondary explosions.

They will be highly trained in this sort of thing. There will be a plan

which will have been put in place all the way back to the Paris

attacks in November, which hospitals will deal with the most seriously

injured, which are the secondary hospitals, and how the police will

react, who then takes over. It is a confused picture in Belgium, lots of

different police forces, federal police, local police, the army on

the streets are just outside the commission building. 500 metres from

the Maelbeek Metro station. There would have had to have been very

quick coordination, but something that they will be well versed in.

Are there people on the run after these attacks? We have had

confirmation that at least one of the attacks was a suicide bomber,

but it is not clear what the situation is for all of them. There

is a number of people who have come to light in the past week, we don't

know an awful lot about them, they have caught the Belgian authorities

on the hop. The mandate killed in an apartment was 36 years old, he

returned from Syria, who worked in a sweet factory, sitting in an

apartment they thought was empty, they go through the door and inside

was an enormous cache of rounds and a Kalashnikov rifles, and two people

who went out of the window, they don't know who they were. They

suspect one of them was Salah Abdeslam, but maybe they were not.

Maybe they were involved in what is going on here. As they have carried

on the investigation, we have heard a number of politicians in Belgium

and France talking about the risk that is there, the heightened

threat, and not knowing enough about the cell connected to France to

confidently predict something like this. These pictures now from above

the Metro station Maelbeek. They close by? This building... The EU

Council building blocks down the street, the boulevard is off to the

right, which runs parallel to the European Commission building. Those

are the two closest Metro stations to the heart of Europe, they have

been picked for a particular reason, and at that time of the morning,

they are an hour ahead of us, 9am, it would have been full of commuters

and people who would be going to the UN building down that road, the

European Commission buildings, and all the Government departments. They

have been told to either stay put if they are there or to work from home

while they get a grip of the situation.

It is a pretty calm situation there outside the railway station in

Brussels where the explosion happened early. So many people on

the streets, people being treated outside the Metro station on the

street. Our reporter reports now from the scene.

I am in Brussels in the European quarter, next to the European

Commission, the European Council, there is a huge police presence,

helicopters, police cars, ambulances, army trucks coming and

going. There is Maelbeek Metro station over there, it has been

closed off, so nobody is allowed in, but there has been an explosion

there at 9am this morning. I spoke to a woman who came out of the

station, she said she was waiting for the Metro when she heard a very

loud noise, there was glass everywhere, she saw people injured.

Let's go to the Belgian Prime Minister holding a news conference.

TRANSLATION: Our first thoughts are with the victims, their families,

and those waiting for information from their loved ones. Two attacks

happened this morning, one at the airport and the other at the Metro

station, Maelbeek. As we speak, the crisis centre, because of the

Security Centre, we are trying to stabilise the situation. Our

thoughts are going towards other locations. The first urgent action

is to provide treatment for the victims, to evacuate the victims of

this attack, towards various hospitals, and we know that probably

we are talking about scores of dead, scores of injured persons, and some

of them seriously. The authorities are evaluating the threat and raised

it to level four, and additional security measures are being taken as

we speak, military reinforcement is being deployed, reinforcement of

border control is in action, and especially measures regarding public

transport are being put in place as we speak. I would like to tell you

at this black moment in our country, as never before I would like to call

on everybody to show calmness and solidarity. We are facing a

difficult, challenging time, and we should face up to this challenge by

being united, and coming together. We will continue to follow the

situation minute by minute, with different security services, with

different rescue services. I would like to thank the security services

for the work they have done so far, and I would like to tell you again

that we are determined to face this situation and manage it, and deal

with it as best as possible. STUDIO: We have momentarily lost the

translation so we will try and get that back. The Belgian Prime

Minister said, what we fear has happened, scores of people are dead,

some seriously. He described it as a black moment in our country and said

we must show calmness and solidarity facing a difficult time. Christian,

that really says it, when he said what we feared had happened. Yes,

and the man sitting next to him is the Belgian prosecutor and they have

been interrogating Salah Abdeslam and I imagine they will have been

putting him under enormous pressure. He said over the last few days, they

have spoken to him in the initial stages. It was clear he was planning

something else. But his pretty evident from what they have

discovered in the apartments they raided. He said we have found bits

of pieces of the puzzle, but we are still far from solving the puzzle of

a whole, really pointing people to the fact there was a threat out

there as we heard from Charles Michel. The city is in lockdown, in

the early hours after the explosions. I guess the question

will be how long will be lockdown go on for? Not an easy city to

lockdown. There are a lot of international trends coming in and

various borders as well with neighbouring countries to shut down

as well. The one thing that strikes me is this the first time in recent

times that Belgium itself has been hit. It has always been a travelling

hub. Let's listen to what Charles Michel have to say.

TRANSLATION: We are in a situation to evacuate the injured. It is

difficult to give you precise responses to your questions, because

we are waiting and evaluation from other hospitals with regard the

identity of the victims, so that we can inform others who are not

Belgian, we have to inform the embassies so we can provide support.

I will give the floor to the federal prosecutor, because this situation

will be opening our judicial process.

Thank you, Mr Prime Minister, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This

morning, we have had two attacks at the departure lounge at Zaventem.

One was probably carried out by a kamikaze, a suicide bomber. Half an

hour later, another explosion at Maelbeek. We had to have more time

to secure the situation, and also to look into the baggage, to make sure

there were no other explosive objects in the luggage. For now, it

is too early to give you a precise number of the victims. Like the

Prime Minister had said, the Prime Minister is effectively to treat the

injured and some of them are seriously injured. A judicial

procedure has been opened about what has happened at Zaventem, to put

everything in place, to trace the perpetrators of the attacks, and to

find out if there are any other perpetrators who are on the run. We

have been entrusted with the enquiry and they are looking at all the

pictures and photos from the CCTV camera. Different procedures have

been put in place, and different services are working, so to put

everything in place, so we can normalise the situation and

progress. STUDIO: This news conference

bringing us up with the latest details with what has happened in

Paris. The Prime Minister said what we fear has happened. We have heard

about tightening security across Belgium and specifically mentioning

nuclear plants across the country. It follows on from investigators who

were investigating the Paris attacks, as part of the additional

security measures they are outlining, nuclear plants are also

having their surveillance stepped up. We are hearing from other

European countries increasing their security. The German Federal police

say they are increasing their security measures because of the

explosions, the same in Paris and London. Christian, you are getting

an update? I'm just looking at reports from the news Reuters,

saying small blasts have been heard close to the Maelbeek Metro. It

appears the police bomb squad are on location. Let's go back to the press

conference. TRANSLATION: At the moment, we are

prioritising to provide support to the victims, to take the victims to

different hospitals, to security two secure the situation as soon as

possible. We have no other information with regard to this, and

the precept will discuss this. INAUDIBLE

Number three is a high-level which says the

threats are serious and possible, and they have been raised and that

has been the case for a few months now.

STUDIO: Let me bring you up to date with some casualties figures we are

getting. According to the Belgian broadcaster quoting the transport

operator saying the Metro explosion killed 15 and injured 55, ten

critically. In France, the Prime Minister Manuel Valls has been

quoted by a broadcaster saying we face a particularly elevated threat,

we are at war in Europe. We have been subjected to acts of war for

several months. Let's listen to the news conference.

TRANSLATION: The investigation will continue and we will have other

opportunities to clarify the situation.

STUDIO: That news conference bringing us up to date with the

Belgian Prime Minister saying what we fear has happened. And attack at

brussels airport and an attack on the Brussels Metro. The reports are

the Prime Minister said scores of dead, scores of injured, some

seriously. They are still confirming the exact number of casualties in

what has been described as a black moment in our country by the Belgian

Prime Minister. We can bring in a Labour MEP who is chair of Justice

at the European Parliament. He was trying to make his way to the

European Parliament but his train was cancelled. Tell us what you have

been able to ascertain about what has gone on. The first thing to say

is that as MEPs, we know the city very well. We work there and the

scale of this devastation is extraordinary. I think that is the

first thing to say, our sympathies are with all the victims and the

numbers seem to be going up as we speak will stop the casualty figures

seem to be going up. You heard earlier from one of my colleagues

inside the building, that things were in lockdown. This, for a

medium-sized city like Brussels is extraordinary. We were not on the

highest level of alert for Brussels which I thought was an issue. Now

there will be visible changes on the streets and places. Zaventem

airport, for people who know it, is a very public area as you go in.

Anyone who understands that airport space will understand what the

devastation will have been like for people. It is the same for the Metro

area. It is shocking to hear. Let me just bring an update on the exact

location of the explosions in the airport. American Airlines saying it

has got additional clarity because the explosions were reported to have

been centred on the American Airlines departures area of Brussels

airport. They say there were two separate explosions, one in zone

three, one in zone 11. We are in zone eight so we're not the closest

check-in desk. Confirmation that there were two separate explosions,

one of those explosions was a suicide bomber. Claude Moraes, you

were talking about the security lockdown but there is in Brussels,

presumably, it could be open-ended, could it? We saw a security lockdown

after the Paris attacks and it went on for some time. I think there will

be some visible differences now because of the scale of the attack.

It is well-known in Brussels that have the highest concentration of

so-called foreign fighters, in fact they are home grown anywhere in the

European Union, and this has been an ongoing issue. Now, because of the

scale of this attack, there will be more visible signs of security,

although there were very visible signs already in public places,

soldiers on the streets and so one, and that was already the case. There

will now be more marked signs of this. There was already heightened

intelligence sharing going on. Many heightened elements were already

happening, but now there will be a much higher scale, a bigger volume

of soldiers being brought into Brussels. That has already been

announced by the Brussels authorities. Claude Moraes, thank

you. Let's hear from our Brussels correspondent Ben Wright. He has

been at the airport and spoke to an eyewitness when the explosions

happened. In the beginning, everyone was

running the same way, because the explosion was on the left side so

everyone was running the other side. So one explosion was on one side of

the terminal building and then there was another explosion? How close

were they together? Not very close. The first one was that the American

Airlines desk. The second explosion was nearby the Starbucks, the coffee

shop. It was like, I did know... It was not nearby each other. It was

like 100 metres from each other. And was one of them nearer the entrance?

Yes, near the entrance. So if people were running from the first, to the

entrance, they were running in the other direction, and that is the

order they went off, the two explosions? This, the Belgian Prime

Minister said, this is what we feared would happen. He spoke of

schools being injured, some seriously. Two explosions at

brussels airport and one at the Maelbeek station. The Prime Minister

said we must all show calmness and solidarity facing a difficult and

challenging time. Christian? That eyewitness seems to

have confirmed there were two explosions, one trying to capture

people running away, designed to catch as many people as possible, we

think 13 people killed at the moment. A huge security operation

underway to ensure there are not bombs in the bags which have already

gone through. And then a second explosion at Maelbeek close to the

European Commission building. Maybe 15 people killed and many more

injured. We are hearing reports of small explosions at the moment,

controlled explosions by the bomb squad who are on location. It is

very close to the centre of the European government of Brussels, and

I think this will be a confusing and fluid picture for some hours to

come. Continuing coverage of the dramatic developments continues on

BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. All the very latest

live from Brussels on those explosions.

Hello. You are watching a BBC News special about the continuing

situation in Brussels. The Belgian capital is hit by a series of

suicide attacks killing at least 26 people. At least 11 people are

killed and Brussels International Airport as two explosions tore

through the departures hall. Scores of people injured after the ceiling

caved in with the force of the blasts. I heard a shot fired and

someone shouted in Arabic followed by a huge explosion and people

started to flee towards the lifts and escalators. An hour later during

rush-hour and another explosion at a metro station in the City, 15 people

of their dead there. We will bring you the latest live, the threat

level has been raised to maximum in Brussels and people last -- are

asked to remain where they are. You are watching a BBC News special

on the breaking news of fatal explosions in the Belgian capital

Brussels. We are now hearing at least 27 people are thought to have

died, many more injured. At least 11 people are believed to have been

killed and more than 30 injured in two explosions in the departures

lounge at Brussels airport, the Belgian prosecutor confirmed they

were carried out by eight suicide bomber. An hour later another

explosion at the metro station in the centre of Brussels, close to the

main European buildings. -- Maelbeek Metro station. The Belgian Prime

Minister Charles Michel called for calm and solidarity and is sending

more than 200 extra troops to the capital. He said it was the attack

we always feared. People have been told to stay inside, the Metro and

rail services have been closed and Eurostar trains have been cancelled

and the Belgian capital already on a state of high alert following the

arrest of the Paris Terror suspect Salah Abdeslam in the City last

week. The first explosions went off in the departure hall at Brussels

airport prompting hundreds of people to flee, one witness said that they

ran towards the second larger blast. These were some of the people caught

up this morning. You felt the explosion? Yes. Last went over me.

-- gloss went. -- glass. We only saw some smashed windows. We

did not get any information. Did you see or hear the explosion? No, but I

had to walk through a load of splinters and smoke and water

dripping from the ceiling. We had to walk through puddles and then we

were evacuated. I was just waiting for my suitcase and then somebody

said over the loudspeakers, this is an evacuation. We were just taken

outside. A huge amount of chaos and confusion. Ben Wright is at the

airport and he spoke to another eyewitness who was in the terminal

when the bombs went off. In the beginning everyone was running the

same way, because the explosion was on the left side and everybody was

running to the other side. One explosion was on one side of the

terminal building and there was another explosion... How close

together were they? Not very close because the first one was at the

American Airlines desk, and the second explosion on the other side

was near the Starbucks desk, the coffee shop. It was like, I don't

know, not nearby each other. Like 100m from each other. The first one

there, the other one there. Was one of them nearer the entrance? Yes,

the second one was near to the entrance. People were running from

the first,... They were running in the direction of the second? Is that

what you think may have happened? Indeed, yes. That was the order that

the two explosions went off? Yes. This eyewitness was also in the

airport. I was having my break inside the building, and I just

heard a loud bang and everything was shaking. Outside the window there

was smoke coming out of the departure hall. Yes, they were doing

some construction work so we thought maybe something was wrong there.

After that it became clear that it was a terrorist explosion. Did you

hear or see the explosions? Yes, I felt them and heard them. It was

maybe 50 or 60 metres from the departure hall where the explosion

was. Did you see it before or after? Just from the outside we saw that

all of the windows were shattered. All of the windows were gone. Let's

go live to Brussels and our correspondent Gavin Lee is there.

You are quite close to the airport, tell us what is happening there now.

Yes, less than 500 metres away where the police cordon is. You can see

the continued evacuation with buses coming from the airports, people are

being taken to a sports hall, there is another information centre, and

they keep coming. For the past half-hour people have been leaving

the airport. Many people in the departures lounge, we believe the

explosions happened in the atrium downstairs as people were checking

their baggage. Those upstairs about to fly or just flying from another

airport, these people are now being continually evacuated, waiting for

other buses to make their way to a sports hall. I have spoken to a man

who was a security help with baggage at the airports and he was telling

me that he personally helped with 17 people, pulling them to safety after

he heard shouting in Arabic, and then he heard the explosions. He was

pulling a number of people, several people he was trying to pull to

safety, died in front of him and he had a vivid description of how many

people were screaming and some of them running over each other at the

airport, a lot of people have said there was absolute panic, there was

no evacuation strategy of course, they just had to run. If you show

the camera this way, this is a business is off the back of the

airport, people making their way, many are not sure where they are

supposed to go. This line stretches to several thousand people

altogether including hundreds on the other side. If we can quickly have a

word with some people here, Joy, you were trying to travel to Tel Aviv

this morning. Yes. Tell us about what you heard and saw. I did not

hear anything, I was on my way to my connecting gate and a lot of people

were running. I was not really sure what it was and then there were some

announcements that clearly something had gone wrong. The woman's voice

was quite shaken, on the intercom. That's when I knew we should move.

Yes, we evacuated. I don't know very much about it. When I first spoke to

you a moment ago, you looked shaken. Deeply upset by what happened, how

are you feeling right now? Yes, it's... Not something you expect.

But also, I don't know, yes... Some people have described running out

and it was desperate, people running on top of other people to try to get

out as quickly as they could, there was no real evacuation plan? Err...

At first it was disorganised but by the time I was there people were

quite calm and just walking towards the exits and following directions

and by the time we were all waiting, they were bringing water and

blankets, and people were calm actually. Maybe because they did not

know what was going on all because I came after the initial attack. So

yes... Did you see as you were being escorted away, did you see the

damage that was done to the building? I saw and heard nothing, I

only saw just large amounts of people trying to evacuate. You are

in this long queue of people, with blankets, many people visit --

visibly in shock. Do you know where you are going now? No, they just

keep saying we are going to a safer location and the airport is shutdown

for 48 hours, I heard. I suppose they are trying to find out what to

do with all of us. Yes, I don't know. I have no idea. Thank you for

joining us. Good luck. You can hear and see at the moment the scene

around us here, many of the security staff came around a short while ago

as well and we got a sense of the bigger picture as to what was going

on. Right in the atrium number of people said it was by the American

Airlines check-in desk that they heard the major explosion, two

explosions, one of them was quieter and a larger second explosion did

most of the damage, the windows being shattered from the main

entrance. As you can see a lot of people in blankets and shawls and

there is lots of confusion about where they are going but they are

heading to a sports hall. Where am I going? You are going to a sports

hall and the authorities say you will get information. What was your

situation? I am in the second floor. And it has broken. There was another

one. You saw a policeman firing? Tell me about that. What was

happening after? This is the problem. It is a problem. Where am I

going? Who is helping? I don't have any money to pay for the train.

There is a lot of confusion. Thank you for joining us. You get the

sense of the scene around us at the moment, this is a significant

incident and people are worrying about what they can do. Safety is a

big factor, our people safe here? Given what has happened and they are

hearing at the explosion at the mile beat Jude station, close to the

European Parliament. -- Maelbeek station. We are seeing clarification

from American Airlines saying that the explosions were far enough away

from their check-in desk that no employees were hurt and other

check-in desks were closer. Generally is it safe to say that

this part of the airport was pretty open and easy for people to move

around? I have seen some footage from one of the security guards

involved in moving people away from the airport, lots of people lying on

the floor and scrambling to leave, apparently from that angle

relatively close to the American Airlines desk but we are hearing

that it was not their desk, but I think we have a sense here that it

was fairly central and for those who have not been to Brussels airport it

is very open and there are usually, you will see seven or eight

uniformed army officers walking around the terminals as well, given

the incident since the Paris attacks, and the heightened security

alert. We were told that there would be an extremely heightened operation

following the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. It was four days ago that

the missing suspect from the Paris attacks was arrested and only

yesterday the interior Minister Jan Jambon said other terror cells could

look to operate after that arrest. The Prime Minister Charles Michel

said scores of people were injured but there is no exact number at the

moment. At the airport and that the Maelbeek station as well. For the

moment thank you very much, Gavin Lee close to the airport in

Brussels. Let's bring you more about what happened at the Maelbeek metro

station. An hour after the airport explosion there was another large

explosion at the Metro station and 15 people may have died there with

many people injured, 250 people. -- up to 50. Our correspondent is

there. I'm in the European quarter in Brussels next to the European

Commission and the council and a huge police presence. We saw

helicopters, police cars, ambulances, army trucks coming and

going. That is because, let me show you, that is Maelbeek Metro station.

It has been closed off so no one is allowed in, but there has been an

explosion there at 9am this morning. I just spoke to a woman who came out

of the station, she told me she was waiting for the Metro when all of a

sudden she heard a very loud noise, there was glass everywhere and she

saw people injured. She told me that she was in shock. Given the number

of ambulances that we so we think there are many injured. The

situation is surreal. A reporter for politico told Joanna Gosling what

she saw in the aftermath of the barn at Maelbeek metro station. I was

outside the Maelbeek metro station, probably a dozen, 15 people lying on

the ground outside covered in white sheets. They seemed to be injured

but I did not see anyone dared, but I was on the outside of the Metro

station looking at the scene. There were people milling around, the

ambulances and fire trucks were having difficulty getting through

because Maelbeek is an Rue de la Loi which is a one-way street. It was

difficult for people to get around the scene. There were some police on

the scene tending to the wounded, but it seemed as though there were

no ambulances at that point. We can see pictures from inside the

tunnel, people walking along inside, and we were speaking to somebody in

the adjacent Metro station when the explosion happened and the smoke did

travel quickly down the tunnel. Does this explain the confusion,

potentially, as to why they might have been explosions at other Metro

station is or has indeed been more than one attack? We can confirm the

attack on Maelbeek, we had reporters on the ground at another station

with reports of an attack and they did not see any sign of an attack at

its seams that was a false alarm. As far as I can tell, this was a case

of the smoke and the sound travelling through the tunnels but

there are no confirmations at this point. We have reporters at stations

surrounding the next station from Maelbeek and Schuman station in the

opposite direction and there are no confirmed reports. What are the

reports on where the explosion was apparently detonated? Under the

ground? Closer to the entrance? It was not on the ground level at the

top of the station. I could see, I could not see any damage on the

outside of the station from both sides of the street so it seems like

a was probably down in the station itself but we do not know exactly.

Whether it was a platform for further up. Reuters as saying nobody

was killed in the explosion inside Brussels Metro carriage. The first

report of casualties are not in the Metro station but that does indicate

the explosion did happen inside a Metro carriage? And this was