22/03/2016 BBC News Special


22/03/2016

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

:00:43.:00:55.

There are reports of someone shouting in Arabic before shots were

:00:56.:01:01.

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

:01:02.:01:05.

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

:01:06.:01:16.

to Zaventem airport have been diverted. Brussels has raised its

:01:17.:01:22.

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

:01:23.:01:27.

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

:01:28.:01:33.

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

:01:34.:01:38.

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

:01:39.:01:42.

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

:01:43.:01:48.

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

:01:49.:01:54.

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

:01:55.:02:03.

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

:02:04.:02:05.

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

:02:06.:02:09.

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

:02:10.:02:13.

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

:02:14.:02:17.

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

:02:18.:02:24.

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

:02:25.:02:28.

planned in Brussels by people linked to Islamic State.

:02:29.:02:33.

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

:02:34.:02:37.

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

:02:38.:02:40.

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

:02:41.:02:45.

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

:02:46.:02:59.

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

:03:00.:03:04.

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

:03:05.:03:08.

and one explosive device. We certainly know from eyewitness

:03:09.:03:11.

accounts that there were two explosions. I heard from an

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

:03:16.:03:19.

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

:03:20.:03:28.

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

:03:29.:03:34.

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

:03:35.:03:38.

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

:03:39.:03:43.

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

:03:44.:03:47.

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

:03:48.:03:57.

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

:03:58.:04:00.

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

:04:01.:04:06.

International Airport here in Brussels. The explosions happened at

:04:07.:04:10.

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

:04:11.:04:15.

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

:04:16.:04:19.

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

:04:20.:04:23.

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

:04:24.:04:27.

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

:04:28.:04:34.

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

:04:35.:04:37.

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

:04:38.:04:45.

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

:04:46.:04:53.

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

:04:54.:04:57.

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

:04:58.:05:02.

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

:05:03.:05:08.

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

:05:09.:05:12.

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

:05:13.:05:19.

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

:05:20.:05:23.

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

:05:24.:05:28.

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

:05:29.:05:33.

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

:05:34.:05:36.

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

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airport which was evacuated very quickly after these explosions went

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off. We are getting reports from eyewitnesses describing the scenes

:05:47.:05:49.

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

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

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

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everywhere, we were walking in the debris.

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

:06:14.:06:15.

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

:06:16.:06:21.

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

:06:22.:06:28.

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

:06:29.:06:32.

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

:06:33.:06:39.

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

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

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

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windows shattering across the whole of the departure area and causing

:06:57.:07:00.

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

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consequences of this, the emergency services and paramedics are having

:07:05.:07:07.

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

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are hearing from the Flemish national broadcaster that 13 people

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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man lying injured. Two women sitting injured, looking completely

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

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

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

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

:08:19.:08:24.

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

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

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

:08:37.:08:40.

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

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

:08:49.:08:51.

increased their security presence and the trolls around the airport.

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

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

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

:09:18.:09:27.

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

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

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

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

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

:09:52.:09:57.

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

:09:58.:10:02.

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

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

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

:10:15.:10:19.

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

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

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

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

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

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

:10:49.:10:52.

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

:10:53.:10:57.

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

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

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

:11:08.:11:15.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:11:58.:12:00.

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

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

:12:09.:12:10.

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

:12:11.:12:26.

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

:12:27.:12:29.

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

:12:30.:12:33.

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

:12:34.:12:40.

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

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

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

:12:53.:12:57.

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

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

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

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

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

:13:22.:13:25.

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

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

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

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

:13:41.:13:46.

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

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

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

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

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European Court, the European Parliament, the European Commission

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

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

:14:20.:14:24.

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

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

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

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

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

:14:45.:14:48.

Commission security services who advised that we stay indoors and we

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

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

:14:58.:15:00.

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

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

:15:05.:15:10.

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

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

:15:19.:15:20.

the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London is advising British

:15:21.:15:22.

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

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

:15:27.:15:28.

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

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

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

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

:15:47.:15:53.

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

:15:54.:15:58.

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

:15:59.:16:04.

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

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

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

:16:14.:16:16.

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

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

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

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

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

:16:37.:16:40.

flights from Brussels have been cancelled and planes heading

:16:41.:16:43.

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

:16:44.:16:49.

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

:16:50.:16:55.

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

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

:17:04.:17:05.

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

:17:06.:17:12.

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

:17:13.:17:18.

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

:17:19.:17:22.

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

:17:23.:17:27.

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

:17:28.:17:33.

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

:17:34.:17:38.

explosion there and the smoke travelled quickly along the tunnel,

:17:39.:17:41.

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

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

:17:48.:17:52.

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

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

:17:57.:18:01.

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

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Foreign Minister warned the discovery of a cache of weapons

:18:05.:18:08.

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

:18:09.:18:13.

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

:18:14.:18:17.

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

:18:18.:18:24.

chairing a meeting of the Government's emergency committee in

:18:25.:18:28.

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

:18:29.:18:33.

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

:18:34.:18:36.

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

:18:37.:18:40.

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

:18:41.:18:52.

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

:18:53.:19:00.

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

:19:01.:19:03.

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

:19:04.:19:08.

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

:19:09.:19:14.

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

:19:15.:19:18.

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

:19:19.:19:30.

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

:19:31.:19:34.

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

:19:35.:19:40.

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

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

:19:45.:19:48.

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

:19:49.:19:52.

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

:19:53.:19:58.

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

:19:59.:20:01.

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

:20:02.:20:08.

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

:20:09.:20:13.

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

:20:14.:20:19.

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

:20:20.:20:26.

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

:20:27.:20:35.

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

:20:36.:20:38.

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

:20:39.:20:44.

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

:20:45.:20:50.

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

:20:51.:20:56.

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

:20:57.:21:00.

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

:21:01.:21:04.

the ambulances and fire trucks were having difficulty getting through,

:21:05.:21:08.

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

:21:09.:21:12.

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

:21:13.:21:18.

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

:21:19.:21:23.

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

:21:24.:21:29.

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

:21:30.:21:35.

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

:21:36.:21:39.

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

:21:40.:21:42.

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

:21:43.:21:46.

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

:21:47.:21:50.

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

:21:51.:21:57.

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

:21:58.:22:01.

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

:22:02.:22:05.

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

:22:06.:22:10.

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

:22:11.:22:13.

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

:22:14.:22:17.

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

:22:18.:22:29.

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

:22:30.:22:31.

was apparently detonated? Was that under the ground

:22:32.:22:36.

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

:22:37.:22:43.

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

:22:44.:22:46.

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

:22:47.:22:50.

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

:22:51.:22:55.

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

:22:56.:23:00.

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

:23:01.:23:09.

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

:23:10.:23:14.

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

:23:15.:23:20.

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

:23:21.:23:24.

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

:23:25.:23:30.

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

:23:31.:23:36.

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

:23:37.:23:39.

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

:23:40.:23:44.

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

:23:45.:23:50.

helped matters, because people were naturally cautious to go underground

:23:51.:23:53.

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

:23:54.:24:00.

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

:24:01.:24:03.

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

:24:04.:24:09.

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

:24:10.:24:13.

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

:24:14.:24:18.

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

:24:19.:24:27.

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

:24:28.:24:32.

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

:24:33.:24:38.

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

:24:39.:24:45.

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

:24:46.:24:49.

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

:24:50.:24:56.

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

:24:57.:25:01.

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

:25:02.:25:06.

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

:25:07.:25:11.

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

:25:12.:25:19.

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

:25:20.:25:25.

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

:25:26.:25:29.

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

:25:30.:25:31.

you. Details coming through all the time,

:25:32.:25:45.

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

:25:46.:25:50.

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

:25:51.:25:53.

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

:25:54.:25:58.

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

:25:59.:26:04.

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

:26:05.:26:09.

the council building and the European Commission. They are an

:26:10.:26:14.

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

:26:15.:26:20.

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

:26:21.:26:25.

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

:26:26.:26:30.

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

:26:31.:26:33.

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

:26:34.:26:39.

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

:26:40.:26:41.

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

:26:42.:26:48.

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

:26:49.:26:54.

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

:26:55.:26:58.

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

:26:59.:27:03.

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

:27:04.:27:07.

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

:27:08.:27:12.

try and divide the emergency services to create as much confusion

:27:13.:27:19.

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

:27:20.:27:25.

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

:27:26.:27:29.

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

:27:30.:27:32.

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

:27:33.:27:37.

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

:27:38.:27:44.

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

:27:45.:27:56.

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

:27:57.:28:00.

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

:28:01.:28:04.

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

:28:05.:28:10.

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

:28:11.:28:14.

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

:28:15.:28:17.

Minister called a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, they reviewed

:28:18.:28:22.

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

:28:23.:28:28.

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

:28:29.:28:32.

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

:28:33.:28:37.

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

:28:38.:28:40.

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

:28:41.:28:44.

recriminations, there will be questions about the Belgian police

:28:45.:28:49.

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

:28:50.:28:55.

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

:28:56.:28:58.

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

:28:59.:29:04.

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

:29:05.:29:10.

Cameron is calling a meeting of the emergency committee, Eurostar

:29:11.:29:15.

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

:29:16.:29:19.

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

:29:20.:29:24.

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

:29:25.:29:29.

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

:29:30.:29:34.

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

:29:35.:29:39.

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

:29:40.:29:44.

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

:29:45.:29:49.

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

:29:50.:29:53.

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

:29:54.:29:57.

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

:29:58.:30:01.

to date on the latest of the casualties figures. Multiple

:30:02.:30:05.

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

:30:06.:30:12.

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

:30:13.:30:18.

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

:30:19.:30:22.

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

:30:23.:30:26.

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

:30:27.:30:30.

Maelbeek Metro station, 500 metres from the European Commission

:30:31.:30:35.

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

:30:36.:30:40.

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

:30:41.:30:47.

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

:30:48.:30:51.

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

:30:52.:30:53.

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

:30:54.:31:08.

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

:31:09.:31:12.

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

:31:13.:31:18.

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

:31:19.:31:23.

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

:31:24.:31:28.

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

:31:29.:31:33.

American Airlines desk. The second explosion was nearby the Starbucks

:31:34.:31:41.

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

:31:42.:31:55.

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

:31:56.:32:03.

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

:32:04.:32:07.

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

:32:08.:32:11.

order they went off, the two explosions?

:32:12.:32:17.

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

:32:18.:32:22.

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

:32:23.:32:28.

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

:32:29.:32:32.

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

:32:33.:32:36.

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

:32:37.:32:41.

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

:32:42.:32:46.

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

:32:47.:32:51.

explosives. The French and Belgian authorities, while working much

:32:52.:32:56.

better now through a joint investigation system they do, they

:32:57.:33:00.

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

:33:01.:33:03.

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

:33:04.:33:10.

been very remiss at getting their intelligence agencies to share

:33:11.:33:13.

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

:33:14.:33:19.

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

:33:20.:33:23.

hear what their own intelligence agencies are thinking, which is

:33:24.:33:26.

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

:33:27.:33:33.

in terms of coordinating police, security and intelligence

:33:34.:33:35.

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

:33:36.:33:40.

comparison there for the sort of community policing which is being

:33:41.:33:46.

done in Britain. British communities, particularly Muslim

:33:47.:33:50.

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

:33:51.:33:53.

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

:33:54.:33:57.

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

:33:58.:34:05.

between the police and communities in Belgium, particularly the area

:34:06.:34:13.

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

:34:14.:34:16.

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

:34:17.:34:20.

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

:34:21.:34:24.

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

:34:25.:34:29.

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

:34:30.:34:38.

injuries which were caused by that explosion. These pictures emerged

:34:39.:34:43.

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

:34:44.:34:48.

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

:34:49.:34:52.

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

:34:53.:34:59.

hall. People walking away in the immediate aftermath of those

:35:00.:35:05.

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

:35:06.:35:11.

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

:35:12.:35:17.

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

:35:18.:35:22.

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

:35:23.:35:26.

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

:35:27.:35:32.

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

:35:33.:35:36.

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

:35:37.:35:40.

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

:35:41.:35:46.

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

:35:47.:35:53.

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

:35:54.:36:00.

For a long time, Molenbeek has allowed to essentially been

:36:01.:36:05.

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

:36:06.:36:09.

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

:36:10.:36:14.

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

:36:15.:36:18.

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

:36:19.:36:21.

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

:36:22.:36:26.

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

:36:27.:36:31.

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

:36:32.:36:36.

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

:36:37.:36:44.

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

:36:45.:36:48.

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

:36:49.:36:54.

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

:36:55.:37:02.

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

:37:03.:37:08.

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

:37:09.:37:12.

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

:37:13.:37:17.

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

:37:18.:37:21.

start filming, and blew him and themselves up.

:37:22.:37:26.

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

:37:27.:37:31.

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

:37:32.:37:35.

airport explosion or the Metro explosion. The Belgian prosecutor

:37:36.:37:43.

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

:37:44.:37:57.

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

:37:58.:38:02.

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

:38:03.:38:08.

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

:38:09.:38:13.

Rome and Vienna airports. More recently, Glasgow airport comedy

:38:14.:38:17.

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

:38:18.:38:25.

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

:38:26.:38:30.

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

:38:31.:38:37.

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

:38:38.:38:42.

access to weapons and explosives. They have almost certainly planned

:38:43.:38:48.

this some time ago but brought forward their planning after the

:38:49.:38:54.

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

:38:55.:38:59.

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

:39:00.:39:07.

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

:39:08.:39:15.

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

:39:16.:39:20.

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

:39:21.:39:23.

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

:39:24.:39:28.

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

:39:29.:39:32.

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

:39:33.:39:42.

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

:39:43.:39:48.

Cobra meeting. The Prime Minister will move here

:39:49.:39:50.

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

:39:51.:40:01.

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

:40:02.:40:04.

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

:40:05.:40:09.

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

:40:10.:40:20.

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

:40:21.:40:23.

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

:40:24.:40:28.

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

:40:29.:40:34.

security services here have conducted a number of trial runs of

:40:35.:40:38.

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

:40:39.:40:47.

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

:40:48.:40:54.

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

:40:55.:40:58.

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

:40:59.:41:02.

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

:41:03.:41:08.

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

:41:09.:41:13.

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

:41:14.:41:17.

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

:41:18.:41:23.

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

:41:24.:41:26.

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

:41:27.:41:33.

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

:41:34.:41:39.

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

:41:40.:41:43.

security services in different countries working together in the

:41:44.:41:46.

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

:41:47.:41:57.

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

:41:58.:42:02.

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

:42:03.:42:09.

have some knowledge of the situation now facing the authorities in

:42:10.:42:15.

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

:42:16.:42:20.

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

:42:21.:42:24.

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

:42:25.:42:27.

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

:42:28.:42:33.

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

:42:34.:42:38.

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

:42:39.:42:47.

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

:42:48.:42:51.

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

:42:52.:42:57.

have in place pretty rigorous security procedures, but with an

:42:58.:43:01.

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

:43:02.:43:07.

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

:43:08.:43:11.

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

:43:12.:43:15.

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

:43:16.:43:20.

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

:43:21.:43:24.

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

:43:25.:43:29.

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

:43:30.:43:32.

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

:43:33.:43:37.

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

:43:38.:43:40.

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

:43:41.:43:43.

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

:43:44.:43:47.

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

:43:48.:43:54.

Maelbeek station near the European Council building. People standing in

:43:55.:43:59.

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

:44:00.:44:05.

for a time about maybe there had been multiple explosions but

:44:06.:44:09.

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

:44:10.:44:17.

Emergency services flying around the city. Colleagues in the Brussels

:44:18.:44:21.

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

:44:22.:44:28.

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

:44:29.:44:34.

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

:44:35.:44:39.

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

:44:40.:44:45.

the international connections have seized. We are hearing that the

:44:46.:44:49.

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

:44:50.:44:55.

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

:44:56.:44:58.

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

:44:59.:45:04.

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

:45:05.:45:14.

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

:45:15.:45:17.

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

:45:18.:45:20.

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

:45:21.:45:33.

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

:45:34.:45:38.

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

:45:39.:45:42.

shattered all the glass from the front of the airport.

:45:43.:45:47.

Belgian media say suicide attackers are responsible for the explosions.

:45:48.:45:51.

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

:45:52.:45:56.

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

:45:57.:46:02.

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

:46:03.:46:06.

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

:46:07.:46:10.

station, the entire network was shut down.

:46:11.:46:32.

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

:46:33.:46:39.

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

:46:40.:46:44.

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

:46:45.:46:48.

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

:46:49.:46:53.

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

:46:54.:46:59.

Belgian authorities have referred to the explosions at the airport and

:47:00.:47:04.

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

:47:05.:47:08.

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

:47:09.:47:14.

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

:47:15.:47:18.

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

:47:19.:47:22.

flights from Brussels have been cancelled and planes heading there

:47:23.:47:26.

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

:47:27.:47:30.

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

:47:31.:47:38.

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

:47:39.:47:43.

larger blast when running away from the first explosion.

:47:44.:47:53.

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

:47:54.:48:07.

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

:48:08.:48:21.

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

:48:22.:48:25.

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

:48:26.:48:31.

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

:48:32.:48:35.

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

:48:36.:48:44.

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

:48:45.:48:47.

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

:48:48.:48:53.

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

:48:54.:48:58.

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

:48:59.:49:00.

station. I am in the Brussels European Court,

:49:01.:49:06.

right next to the European Commission, the scene here is

:49:07.:49:12.

extremely strange. There are ambulances everywhere, army trucks

:49:13.:49:17.

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

:49:18.:49:24.

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

:49:25.:49:31.

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

:49:32.:49:39.

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

:49:40.:49:43.

allowed in. The explosions come four days after

:49:44.:49:48.

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

:49:49.:49:51.

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

:49:52.:49:54.

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

:49:55.:49:58.

weapons suggested that his accomplices could be ready to carry

:49:59.:50:04.

out further attacks. Two people connected to Salah Abdeslam are

:50:05.:50:08.

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

:50:09.:50:12.

people were largely planned in Brussels by conspirators linked to

:50:13.:50:18.

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

:50:19.:50:22.

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

:50:23.:50:25.

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

:50:26.:50:33.

now, a Conservative MEP in the European Parliament building close

:50:34.:50:36.

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

:50:37.:50:41.

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

:50:42.:50:46.

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

:50:47.:50:52.

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

:50:53.:50:54.

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

:50:55.:51:04.

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

:51:05.:51:09.

over the station, it is just around the corner.

:51:10.:51:10.

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

:51:11.:51:20.

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

:51:21.:51:26.

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

:51:27.:51:32.

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

:51:33.:51:38.

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

:51:39.:51:42.

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

:51:43.:51:46.

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

:51:47.:51:54.

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

:51:55.:51:58.

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

:51:59.:52:05.

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

:52:06.:52:09.

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

:52:10.:52:13.

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

:52:14.:52:19.

community supporting Islamic State here in Brussels is much bigger than

:52:20.:52:24.

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

:52:25.:52:30.

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

:52:31.:52:33.

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

:52:34.:52:39.

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

:52:40.:52:45.

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

:52:46.:52:52.

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

:52:53.:52:56.

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

:52:57.:53:04.

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

:53:05.:53:08.

capital cities is very great, and therefore quite obviously the

:53:09.:53:13.

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

:53:14.:53:18.

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

:53:19.:53:24.

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

:53:25.:53:30.

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

:53:31.:53:34.

that we have been reasonably successful because we learned our

:53:35.:53:39.

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

:53:40.:53:45.

there was not enough sharing of information between the Belgian and

:53:46.:53:49.

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

:53:50.:53:57.

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

:53:58.:54:00.

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

:54:01.:54:10.

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

:54:11.:54:15.

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

:54:16.:54:22.

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

:54:23.:54:27.

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

:54:28.:54:32.

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

:54:33.:54:34.

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

:54:35.:54:39.

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

:54:40.:54:44.

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

:54:45.:54:52.

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

:54:53.:54:58.

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

:54:59.:55:05.

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

:55:06.:55:09.

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

:55:10.:55:14.

Belgian national media are reporting. The explosions here seem

:55:15.:55:19.

to have happened almost simultaneously, there was an

:55:20.:55:26.

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

:55:27.:55:31.

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

:55:32.:55:35.

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

:55:36.:55:42.

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

:55:43.:55:45.

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

:55:46.:55:54.

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

:55:55.:55:57.

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

:55:58.:56:03.

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

:56:04.:56:07.

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

:56:08.:56:14.

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

:56:15.:56:20.

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

:56:21.:56:27.

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

:56:28.:56:34.

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

:56:35.:56:39.

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

:56:40.:56:47.

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

:56:48.:56:52.

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

:56:53.:56:57.

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

:56:58.:57:05.

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

:57:06.:57:09.

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

:57:10.:57:19.

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

:57:20.:57:25.

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

:57:26.:57:30.

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

:57:31.:57:35.

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

:57:36.:57:48.

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

:57:49.:57:53.

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

:57:54.:58:00.

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

:58:01.:58:08.

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

:58:09.:58:16.

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

:58:17.:58:19.

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

:58:20.:58:25.

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

:58:26.:58:28.

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

:58:29.:58:36.

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

:58:37.:58:41.

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

:58:42.:58:47.

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

:58:48.:58:53.

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

:58:54.:59:02.

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

:59:03.:59:09.

that they prevented, everybody was afraid that something like this

:59:10.:59:13.

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

:59:14.:59:17.

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

:59:18.:59:22.

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

:59:23.:59:31.

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

:59:32.:59:37.

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

:59:38.:59:43.

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

:59:44.:59:48.

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

:59:49.:59:53.

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

:59:54.:59:57.

anywhere else around Brussels, because the transport network is

:59:58.:00:06.

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

:00:07.:00:11.

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

:00:12.:00:13.

in. He is still in French, but there is

:00:14.:00:23.

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

:00:24.:00:38.

between the French and Belgian authorities. The Liberation

:00:39.:00:43.

newspaper is reporting that the border between France and Belgium

:00:44.:00:47.

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

:00:48.:00:53.

checked. European capitals are reviewing their security. Let me

:00:54.:00:57.

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

:00:58.:01:02.

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

:01:03.:01:06.

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

:01:07.:01:11.

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

:01:12.:01:15.

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

:01:16.:01:18.

Airport, they are reporting that they are cancelling all flights

:01:19.:01:25.

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

:01:26.:01:30.

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

:01:31.:01:34.

Brussels airport. They will be closed while they review their

:01:35.:01:39.

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

:01:40.:01:44.

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

:01:45.:01:50.

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

:01:51.:01:55.

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

:01:56.:02:01.

extraordinary pictures coming in from the departure area where the

:02:02.:02:07.

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

:02:08.:02:12.

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

:02:13.:02:17.

Minister and I think we have an English translation.

:02:18.:02:27.

TRANSLATION: All the instructions to take the necessary measures to

:02:28.:02:33.

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

:02:34.:02:43.

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

:02:44.:02:56.

deployed 400 extra police, especially at the main railway

:02:57.:02:59.

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

:03:00.:03:10.

the territory, that 600 other policemen have been deployed

:03:11.:03:20.

already. Other measures have been decided regarding public transport.

:03:21.:03:28.

Access to public zones for public transport are reserved for people

:03:29.:03:35.

who carry transport cards or identity cards. Number two,

:03:36.:03:41.

preventative message and raising awareness will be broadcast for the

:03:42.:03:57.

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

:03:58.:04:03.

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

:04:04.:04:10.

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

:04:11.:04:22.

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

:04:23.:04:28.

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

:04:29.:04:36.

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

:04:37.:04:47.

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

:04:48.:04:55.

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

:04:56.:05:00.

interrogated, once they take steps on European territory. Criminal

:05:01.:05:08.

files should be related to the Schengen issue and the fight

:05:09.:05:14.

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

:05:15.:05:18.

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

:05:19.:05:22.

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

:05:23.:05:31.

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

:05:32.:05:40.

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

:05:41.:05:48.

I have stated regarding cooperation between two countries. In

:05:49.:05:56.

trafficking that this should be the subject of reinforced initiative and

:05:57.:06:02.

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

:06:03.:06:07.

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

:06:08.:06:16.

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

:06:17.:06:21.

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

:06:22.:06:25.

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

:06:26.:06:31.

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

:06:32.:06:39.

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

:06:40.:06:43.

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

:06:44.:06:50.

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

:06:51.:06:57.

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

:06:58.:07:02.

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

:07:03.:07:12.

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

:07:13.:07:17.

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

:07:18.:07:21.

UK police that presence is being stepped up at key locations

:07:22.:07:26.

including transport hubs, as a precaution after the explosions in

:07:27.:07:30.

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

:07:31.:07:36.

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

:07:37.:07:40.

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

:07:41.:07:43.

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

:07:44.:07:47.

anticipated. President Hollande talked about that the other day.

:07:48.:07:52.

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

:07:53.:07:57.

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

:07:58.:08:02.

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

:08:03.:08:12.

Molenbeek in Belgium has been closely entwined with the drug trade

:08:13.:08:16.

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

:08:17.:08:19.

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

:08:20.:08:24.

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

:08:25.:08:28.

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

:08:29.:08:36.

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

:08:37.:08:43.

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

:08:44.:08:47.

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

:08:48.:08:53.

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

:08:54.:08:58.

sharing of intelligence between local police and the intelligence

:08:59.:09:01.

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

:09:02.:09:06.

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

:09:07.:09:09.

sharing intelligence an investigation like Paris between

:09:10.:09:13.

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

:09:14.:09:17.

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

:09:18.:09:20.

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

:09:21.:09:23.

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

:09:24.:09:28.

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

:09:29.:09:33.

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

:09:34.:09:38.

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

:09:39.:09:42.

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

:09:43.:09:50.

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

:09:51.:09:54.

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

:09:55.:09:59.

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

:10:00.:10:05.

forces across the UK have increased police presence at key locations

:10:06.:10:09.

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

:10:10.:10:14.

This is not in relation to any specific information or

:10:15.:10:18.

intelligence. In London, the Metropolitan Police Service has

:10:19.:10:20.

mobilised extra officers who will carry out highly visible patrols at

:10:21.:10:25.

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

:10:26.:10:30.

be regularly assessed. These additional officers are deployed as

:10:31.:10:34.

part of reassurance measures. The police presence across London and

:10:35.:10:38.

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

:10:39.:10:42.

Belgian authorities and will continue to monitor the situation.

:10:43.:10:47.

The threat to the UK from international terrorism will remain

:10:48.:10:58.

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

:10:59.:11:01.

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

:11:02.:11:03.

report anything suspicious to the confidential anti-terrorist hotline.

:11:04.:11:09.

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

:11:10.:11:15.

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

:11:16.:11:21.

counterterrorism officer and lectures in crime at Liverpool John

:11:22.:11:26.

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

:11:27.:11:34.

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

:11:35.:11:41.

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

:11:42.:11:52.

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

:11:53.:12:01.

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

:12:02.:12:05.

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

:12:06.:12:10.

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

:12:11.:12:16.

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

:12:17.:12:23.

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

:12:24.:12:27.

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

:12:28.:12:33.

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

:12:34.:12:39.

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

:12:40.:12:43.

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

:12:44.:12:49.

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

:12:50.:12:54.

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

:12:55.:13:00.

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

:13:01.:13:05.

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

:13:06.:13:09.

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

:13:10.:13:18.

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

:13:19.:13:25.

very end thereof Boris Johnson talking about increasing the police

:13:26.:13:33.

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

:13:34.:13:40.

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

:13:41.:13:46.

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

:13:47.:13:50.

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

:13:51.:13:55.

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

:13:56.:13:59.

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

:14:00.:14:06.

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

:14:07.:14:15.

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

:14:16.:14:20.

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

:14:21.:14:27.

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

:14:28.:14:31.

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

:14:32.:14:37.

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

:14:38.:14:42.

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

:14:43.:14:45.

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

:14:46.:14:51.

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

:14:52.:14:56.

people running from the airports, cowering under bridges and the

:14:57.:15:00.

distressing pictures of emergency services dealing with the injuries.

:15:01.:15:05.

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

:15:06.:15:10.

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

:15:11.:15:17.

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

:15:18.:15:23.

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

:15:24.:15:29.

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

:15:30.:15:34.

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

:15:35.:15:37.

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

:15:38.:15:41.

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

:15:42.:15:45.

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

:15:46.:15:49.

relaxed about the situation. They reviewed security on to spend

:15:50.:15:53.

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

:15:54.:15:56.

level, and now they will be looking at that

:15:57.:16:11.

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

:16:12.:16:15.

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

:16:16.:16:17.

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

:16:18.:16:19.

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

:16:20.:16:30.

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

:16:31.:16:35.

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

:16:36.:16:37.

bigger than they might have anticipated. Belgium is sending 225

:16:38.:16:43.

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

:16:44.:16:50.

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

:16:51.:16:57.

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

:16:58.:17:01.

explosions in Brussels this morning, golden prosecutors say two

:17:02.:17:08.

explosions at the airport were suicide attacks, they happened soon

:17:09.:17:11.

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

:17:12.:17:15.

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

:17:16.:17:21.

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

:17:22.:17:28.

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

:17:29.:17:32.

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

:17:33.:17:36.

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

:17:37.:17:42.

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

:17:43.:17:45.

closed until further notice. All flights from Brussels have been

:17:46.:17:50.

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

:17:51.:17:55.

the airport has been suspended. You restore into Brussels also

:17:56.:17:59.

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

:18:00.:18:06.

buildings, these pictures of the immediate aftermath show black smoke

:18:07.:18:10.

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

:18:11.:18:16.

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

:18:17.:18:20.

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

:18:21.:18:24.

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

:18:25.:18:30.

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

:18:31.:18:34.

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

:18:35.:18:38.

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

:18:39.:18:41.

horrific incidents. We felt the explosion. There was

:18:42.:18:45.

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

:18:46.:19:10.

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

:19:11.:19:17.

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

:19:18.:19:20.

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

:19:21.:19:26.

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

:19:27.:19:28.

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

:19:29.:19:37.

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

:19:38.:19:41.

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

:19:42.:19:46.

Paris attacks last November. After his arrest the Belgian Foreign

:19:47.:19:49.

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

:19:50.:19:54.

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

:19:55.:19:58.

said the attacks in Paris which killed 130 people were largely

:19:59.:20:02.

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

:20:03.:20:05.

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

:20:06.:20:10.

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

:20:11.:20:16.

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

:20:17.:20:19.

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

:20:20.:20:24.

patrol, including on the London transport network. David Cameron

:20:25.:20:27.

will chair a meeting of the emergency committee in response to

:20:28.:20:31.

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

:20:32.:20:36.

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

:20:37.:20:42.

speaking. It is a terrible event, our thoughts

:20:43.:20:48.

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

:20:49.:20:54.

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

:20:55.:21:00.

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

:21:01.:21:05.

has bothered to do with any information, is purely for

:21:06.:21:09.

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

:21:10.:21:15.

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

:21:16.:21:20.

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

:21:21.:21:27.

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

:21:28.:21:31.

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

:21:32.:21:37.

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

:21:38.:21:41.

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

:21:42.:21:46.

treated outside Maelbeek station. The initial aftermath of that

:21:47.:21:51.

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

:21:52.:21:55.

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

:21:56.:22:00.

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

:22:01.:22:05.

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

:22:06.:22:12.

Underground line. People evacuating the adjacent stations. Pictures of

:22:13.:22:18.

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

:22:19.:22:24.

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

:22:25.:22:30.

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

:22:31.:22:34.

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

:22:35.:22:39.

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

:22:40.:22:42.

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

:22:43.:22:48.

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

:22:49.:22:52.

There was confusion because they thought there had been an explosion

:22:53.:22:55.

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

:22:56.:22:59.

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

:23:00.:23:06.

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

:23:07.:23:14.

city, with suicide explosions and gunfire and secondary explosions.

:23:15.:23:19.

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

:23:20.:23:23.

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

:23:24.:23:26.

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

:23:27.:23:31.

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

:23:32.:23:37.

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

:23:38.:23:41.

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

:23:42.:23:45.

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

:23:46.:23:52.

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

:23:53.:23:56.

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

:23:57.:24:04.

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

:24:05.:24:07.

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

:24:08.:24:11.

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

:24:12.:24:15.

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

:24:16.:24:20.

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

:24:21.:24:26.

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

:24:27.:24:33.

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

:24:34.:24:35.

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

:24:36.:24:41.

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

:24:42.:24:46.

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

:24:47.:24:50.

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

:24:51.:24:54.

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

:24:55.:24:59.

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

:25:00.:25:03.

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

:25:04.:25:07.

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

:25:08.:25:10.

confidently predict something like this. These pictures now from above

:25:11.:25:21.

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

:25:22.:25:35.

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

:25:36.:25:39.

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

:25:40.:25:47.

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

:25:48.:25:50.

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

:25:51.:25:56.

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

:25:57.:26:00.

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

:26:01.:26:04.

European Commission buildings, and all the Government departments. They

:26:05.:26:08.

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

:26:09.:26:11.

while they get a grip of the situation.

:26:12.:26:19.

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

:26:20.:26:28.

Brussels where the explosion happened early. So many people on

:26:29.:26:33.

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

:26:34.:26:37.

street. Our reporter reports now from the scene.

:26:38.:26:44.

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

:26:45.:26:48.

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

:26:49.:26:53.

helicopters, police cars, ambulances, army trucks coming and

:26:54.:27:00.

going. There is Maelbeek Metro station over there, it has been

:27:01.:27:06.

closed off, so nobody is allowed in, but there has been an explosion

:27:07.:27:11.

there at 9am this morning. I spoke to a woman who came out of the

:27:12.:27:14.

station, she said she was waiting for the Metro when she heard a very

:27:15.:27:22.

loud noise, there was glass everywhere, she saw people injured.

:27:23.:27:26.

Let's go to the Belgian Prime Minister holding a news conference.

:27:27.:27:32.

TRANSLATION: Our first thoughts are with the victims, their families,

:27:33.:27:39.

and those waiting for information from their loved ones. Two attacks

:27:40.:27:47.

happened this morning, one at the airport and the other at the Metro

:27:48.:27:55.

station, Maelbeek. As we speak, the crisis centre, because of the

:27:56.:27:58.

Security Centre, we are trying to stabilise the situation. Our

:27:59.:28:04.

thoughts are going towards other locations. The first urgent action

:28:05.:28:12.

is to provide treatment for the victims, to evacuate the victims of

:28:13.:28:18.

this attack, towards various hospitals, and we know that probably

:28:19.:28:28.

we are talking about scores of dead, scores of injured persons, and some

:28:29.:28:34.

of them seriously. The authorities are evaluating the threat and raised

:28:35.:28:41.

it to level four, and additional security measures are being taken as

:28:42.:28:45.

we speak, military reinforcement is being deployed, reinforcement of

:28:46.:28:52.

border control is in action, and especially measures regarding public

:28:53.:28:57.

transport are being put in place as we speak. I would like to tell you

:28:58.:29:10.

at this black moment in our country, as never before I would like to call

:29:11.:29:14.

on everybody to show calmness and solidarity. We are facing a

:29:15.:29:20.

difficult, challenging time, and we should face up to this challenge by

:29:21.:29:28.

being united, and coming together. We will continue to follow the

:29:29.:29:34.

situation minute by minute, with different security services, with

:29:35.:29:42.

different rescue services. I would like to thank the security services

:29:43.:29:45.

for the work they have done so far, and I would like to tell you again

:29:46.:29:50.

that we are determined to face this situation and manage it, and deal

:29:51.:29:57.

with it as best as possible. STUDIO: We have momentarily lost the

:29:58.:30:28.

translation so we will try and get that back. The Belgian Prime

:30:29.:30:34.

Minister said, what we fear has happened, scores of people are dead,

:30:35.:30:40.

some seriously. He described it as a black moment in our country and said

:30:41.:30:46.

we must show calmness and solidarity facing a difficult time. Christian,

:30:47.:30:51.

that really says it, when he said what we feared had happened. Yes,

:30:52.:30:57.

and the man sitting next to him is the Belgian prosecutor and they have

:30:58.:31:00.

been interrogating Salah Abdeslam and I imagine they will have been

:31:01.:31:04.

putting him under enormous pressure. He said over the last few days, they

:31:05.:31:09.

have spoken to him in the initial stages. It was clear he was planning

:31:10.:31:14.

something else. But his pretty evident from what they have

:31:15.:31:17.

discovered in the apartments they raided. He said we have found bits

:31:18.:31:24.

of pieces of the puzzle, but we are still far from solving the puzzle of

:31:25.:31:28.

a whole, really pointing people to the fact there was a threat out

:31:29.:31:33.

there as we heard from Charles Michel. The city is in lockdown, in

:31:34.:31:40.

the early hours after the explosions. I guess the question

:31:41.:31:45.

will be how long will be lockdown go on for? Not an easy city to

:31:46.:31:50.

lockdown. There are a lot of international trends coming in and

:31:51.:31:56.

various borders as well with neighbouring countries to shut down

:31:57.:32:01.

as well. The one thing that strikes me is this the first time in recent

:32:02.:32:05.

times that Belgium itself has been hit. It has always been a travelling

:32:06.:32:11.

hub. Let's listen to what Charles Michel have to say.

:32:12.:32:17.

TRANSLATION: We are in a situation to evacuate the injured. It is

:32:18.:32:22.

difficult to give you precise responses to your questions, because

:32:23.:32:27.

we are waiting and evaluation from other hospitals with regard the

:32:28.:32:36.

identity of the victims, so that we can inform others who are not

:32:37.:32:43.

Belgian, we have to inform the embassies so we can provide support.

:32:44.:32:50.

I will give the floor to the federal prosecutor, because this situation

:32:51.:32:54.

will be opening our judicial process.

:32:55.:33:01.

Thank you, Mr Prime Minister, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This

:33:02.:33:06.

morning, we have had two attacks at the departure lounge at Zaventem.

:33:07.:33:14.

One was probably carried out by a kamikaze, a suicide bomber. Half an

:33:15.:33:18.

hour later, another explosion at Maelbeek. We had to have more time

:33:19.:33:24.

to secure the situation, and also to look into the baggage, to make sure

:33:25.:33:29.

there were no other explosive objects in the luggage. For now, it

:33:30.:33:33.

is too early to give you a precise number of the victims. Like the

:33:34.:33:39.

Prime Minister had said, the Prime Minister is effectively to treat the

:33:40.:33:44.

injured and some of them are seriously injured. A judicial

:33:45.:33:50.

procedure has been opened about what has happened at Zaventem, to put

:33:51.:34:00.

everything in place, to trace the perpetrators of the attacks, and to

:34:01.:34:04.

find out if there are any other perpetrators who are on the run. We

:34:05.:34:14.

have been entrusted with the enquiry and they are looking at all the

:34:15.:34:17.

pictures and photos from the CCTV camera. Different procedures have

:34:18.:34:28.

been put in place, and different services are working, so to put

:34:29.:34:34.

everything in place, so we can normalise the situation and

:34:35.:34:34.

progress. STUDIO: This news conference

:34:35.:35:01.

bringing us up with the latest details with what has happened in

:35:02.:35:06.

Paris. The Prime Minister said what we fear has happened. We have heard

:35:07.:35:12.

about tightening security across Belgium and specifically mentioning

:35:13.:35:15.

nuclear plants across the country. It follows on from investigators who

:35:16.:35:22.

were investigating the Paris attacks, as part of the additional

:35:23.:35:27.

security measures they are outlining, nuclear plants are also

:35:28.:35:30.

having their surveillance stepped up. We are hearing from other

:35:31.:35:36.

European countries increasing their security. The German Federal police

:35:37.:35:40.

say they are increasing their security measures because of the

:35:41.:35:47.

explosions, the same in Paris and London. Christian, you are getting

:35:48.:35:52.

an update? I'm just looking at reports from the news Reuters,

:35:53.:35:57.

saying small blasts have been heard close to the Maelbeek Metro. It

:35:58.:36:05.

appears the police bomb squad are on location. Let's go back to the press

:36:06.:36:11.

conference. TRANSLATION: At the moment, we are

:36:12.:36:15.

prioritising to provide support to the victims, to take the victims to

:36:16.:36:23.

different hospitals, to security two secure the situation as soon as

:36:24.:36:31.

possible. We have no other information with regard to this, and

:36:32.:36:40.

the precept will discuss this. INAUDIBLE

:36:41.:36:50.

Number three is a high-level which says the

:36:51.:36:57.

threats are serious and possible, and they have been raised and that

:36:58.:37:00.

has been the case for a few months now.

:37:01.:37:13.

STUDIO: Let me bring you up to date with some casualties figures we are

:37:14.:37:39.

getting. According to the Belgian broadcaster quoting the transport

:37:40.:37:44.

operator saying the Metro explosion killed 15 and injured 55, ten

:37:45.:37:50.

critically. In France, the Prime Minister Manuel Valls has been

:37:51.:37:56.

quoted by a broadcaster saying we face a particularly elevated threat,

:37:57.:37:59.

we are at war in Europe. We have been subjected to acts of war for

:38:00.:38:02.

several months. Let's listen to the news conference.

:38:03.:38:13.

TRANSLATION: The investigation will continue and we will have other

:38:14.:38:16.

opportunities to clarify the situation.

:38:17.:38:37.

STUDIO: That news conference bringing us up to date with the

:38:38.:38:42.

Belgian Prime Minister saying what we fear has happened. And attack at

:38:43.:38:50.

brussels airport and an attack on the Brussels Metro. The reports are

:38:51.:38:54.

the Prime Minister said scores of dead, scores of injured, some

:38:55.:39:00.

seriously. They are still confirming the exact number of casualties in

:39:01.:39:04.

what has been described as a black moment in our country by the Belgian

:39:05.:39:09.

Prime Minister. We can bring in a Labour MEP who is chair of Justice

:39:10.:39:18.

at the European Parliament. He was trying to make his way to the

:39:19.:39:21.

European Parliament but his train was cancelled. Tell us what you have

:39:22.:39:24.

been able to ascertain about what has gone on. The first thing to say

:39:25.:39:32.

is that as MEPs, we know the city very well. We work there and the

:39:33.:39:38.

scale of this devastation is extraordinary. I think that is the

:39:39.:39:43.

first thing to say, our sympathies are with all the victims and the

:39:44.:39:48.

numbers seem to be going up as we speak will stop the casualty figures

:39:49.:39:54.

seem to be going up. You heard earlier from one of my colleagues

:39:55.:39:58.

inside the building, that things were in lockdown. This, for a

:39:59.:40:05.

medium-sized city like Brussels is extraordinary. We were not on the

:40:06.:40:09.

highest level of alert for Brussels which I thought was an issue. Now

:40:10.:40:16.

there will be visible changes on the streets and places. Zaventem

:40:17.:40:23.

airport, for people who know it, is a very public area as you go in.

:40:24.:40:28.

Anyone who understands that airport space will understand what the

:40:29.:40:31.

devastation will have been like for people. It is the same for the Metro

:40:32.:40:38.

area. It is shocking to hear. Let me just bring an update on the exact

:40:39.:40:44.

location of the explosions in the airport. American Airlines saying it

:40:45.:40:48.

has got additional clarity because the explosions were reported to have

:40:49.:40:52.

been centred on the American Airlines departures area of Brussels

:40:53.:41:04.

airport. They say there were two separate explosions, one in zone

:41:05.:41:06.

three, one in zone 11. We are in zone eight so we're not the closest

:41:07.:41:09.

check-in desk. Confirmation that there were two separate explosions,

:41:10.:41:13.

one of those explosions was a suicide bomber. Claude Moraes, you

:41:14.:41:17.

were talking about the security lockdown but there is in Brussels,

:41:18.:41:22.

presumably, it could be open-ended, could it? We saw a security lockdown

:41:23.:41:26.

after the Paris attacks and it went on for some time. I think there will

:41:27.:41:31.

be some visible differences now because of the scale of the attack.

:41:32.:41:36.

It is well-known in Brussels that have the highest concentration of

:41:37.:41:40.

so-called foreign fighters, in fact they are home grown anywhere in the

:41:41.:41:44.

European Union, and this has been an ongoing issue. Now, because of the

:41:45.:41:50.

scale of this attack, there will be more visible signs of security,

:41:51.:41:54.

although there were very visible signs already in public places,

:41:55.:42:01.

soldiers on the streets and so one, and that was already the case. There

:42:02.:42:08.

will now be more marked signs of this. There was already heightened

:42:09.:42:14.

intelligence sharing going on. Many heightened elements were already

:42:15.:42:18.

happening, but now there will be a much higher scale, a bigger volume

:42:19.:42:22.

of soldiers being brought into Brussels. That has already been

:42:23.:42:27.

announced by the Brussels authorities. Claude Moraes, thank

:42:28.:42:32.

you. Let's hear from our Brussels correspondent Ben Wright. He has

:42:33.:42:37.

been at the airport and spoke to an eyewitness when the explosions

:42:38.:42:42.

happened. In the beginning, everyone was

:42:43.:42:45.

running the same way, because the explosion was on the left side so

:42:46.:42:50.

everyone was running the other side. So one explosion was on one side of

:42:51.:42:55.

the terminal building and then there was another explosion? How close

:42:56.:43:00.

were they together? Not very close. The first one was that the American

:43:01.:43:04.

Airlines desk. The second explosion was nearby the Starbucks, the coffee

:43:05.:43:14.

shop. It was like, I did know... It was not nearby each other. It was

:43:15.:43:23.

like 100 metres from each other. And was one of them nearer the entrance?

:43:24.:43:29.

Yes, near the entrance. So if people were running from the first, to the

:43:30.:43:36.

entrance, they were running in the other direction, and that is the

:43:37.:43:42.

order they went off, the two explosions? This, the Belgian Prime

:43:43.:43:50.

Minister said, this is what we feared would happen. He spoke of

:43:51.:43:55.

schools being injured, some seriously. Two explosions at

:43:56.:43:59.

brussels airport and one at the Maelbeek station. The Prime Minister

:44:00.:44:06.

said we must all show calmness and solidarity facing a difficult and

:44:07.:44:13.

challenging time. Christian? That eyewitness seems to

:44:14.:44:21.

have confirmed there were two explosions, one trying to capture

:44:22.:44:25.

people running away, designed to catch as many people as possible, we

:44:26.:44:30.

think 13 people killed at the moment. A huge security operation

:44:31.:44:36.

underway to ensure there are not bombs in the bags which have already

:44:37.:44:41.

gone through. And then a second explosion at Maelbeek close to the

:44:42.:44:46.

European Commission building. Maybe 15 people killed and many more

:44:47.:44:49.

injured. We are hearing reports of small explosions at the moment,

:44:50.:44:55.

controlled explosions by the bomb squad who are on location. It is

:44:56.:45:00.

very close to the centre of the European government of Brussels, and

:45:01.:45:04.

I think this will be a confusing and fluid picture for some hours to

:45:05.:45:10.

come. Continuing coverage of the dramatic developments continues on

:45:11.:45:15.

BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. All the very latest

:45:16.:45:18.

live from Brussels on those explosions.

:45:19.:45:24.

Hello. You are watching a BBC News special about the continuing

:45:25.:45:31.

situation in Brussels. The Belgian capital is hit by a series of

:45:32.:45:34.

suicide attacks killing at least 26 people. At least 11 people are

:45:35.:45:41.

killed and Brussels International Airport as two explosions tore

:45:42.:45:45.

through the departures hall. Scores of people injured after the ceiling

:45:46.:45:47.

caved in with the force of the blasts. I heard a shot fired and

:45:48.:45:54.

someone shouted in Arabic followed by a huge explosion and people

:45:55.:45:58.

started to flee towards the lifts and escalators. An hour later during

:45:59.:46:03.

rush-hour and another explosion at a metro station in the City, 15 people

:46:04.:46:08.

of their dead there. We will bring you the latest live, the threat

:46:09.:46:12.

level has been raised to maximum in Brussels and people last -- are

:46:13.:46:17.

asked to remain where they are. You are watching a BBC News special

:46:18.:46:35.

on the breaking news of fatal explosions in the Belgian capital

:46:36.:46:38.

Brussels. We are now hearing at least 27 people are thought to have

:46:39.:46:43.

died, many more injured. At least 11 people are believed to have been

:46:44.:46:47.

killed and more than 30 injured in two explosions in the departures

:46:48.:46:51.

lounge at Brussels airport, the Belgian prosecutor confirmed they

:46:52.:46:56.

were carried out by eight suicide bomber. An hour later another

:46:57.:47:01.

explosion at the metro station in the centre of Brussels, close to the

:47:02.:47:08.

main European buildings. -- Maelbeek Metro station. The Belgian Prime

:47:09.:47:16.

Minister Charles Michel called for calm and solidarity and is sending

:47:17.:47:19.

more than 200 extra troops to the capital. He said it was the attack

:47:20.:47:25.

we always feared. People have been told to stay inside, the Metro and

:47:26.:47:29.

rail services have been closed and Eurostar trains have been cancelled

:47:30.:47:34.

and the Belgian capital already on a state of high alert following the

:47:35.:47:38.

arrest of the Paris Terror suspect Salah Abdeslam in the City last

:47:39.:47:42.

week. The first explosions went off in the departure hall at Brussels

:47:43.:47:45.

airport prompting hundreds of people to flee, one witness said that they

:47:46.:47:53.

ran towards the second larger blast. These were some of the people caught

:47:54.:47:57.

up this morning. You felt the explosion? Yes. Last went over me.

:47:58.:48:04.

-- gloss went. -- glass. We only saw some smashed windows. We

:48:05.:48:27.

did not get any information. Did you see or hear the explosion? No, but I

:48:28.:48:33.

had to walk through a load of splinters and smoke and water

:48:34.:48:36.

dripping from the ceiling. We had to walk through puddles and then we

:48:37.:48:40.

were evacuated. I was just waiting for my suitcase and then somebody

:48:41.:48:45.

said over the loudspeakers, this is an evacuation. We were just taken

:48:46.:48:53.

outside. A huge amount of chaos and confusion. Ben Wright is at the

:48:54.:48:59.

airport and he spoke to another eyewitness who was in the terminal

:49:00.:49:04.

when the bombs went off. In the beginning everyone was running the

:49:05.:49:08.

same way, because the explosion was on the left side and everybody was

:49:09.:49:12.

running to the other side. One explosion was on one side of the

:49:13.:49:15.

terminal building and there was another explosion... How close

:49:16.:49:22.

together were they? Not very close because the first one was at the

:49:23.:49:26.

American Airlines desk, and the second explosion on the other side

:49:27.:49:30.

was near the Starbucks desk, the coffee shop. It was like, I don't

:49:31.:49:43.

know, not nearby each other. Like 100m from each other. The first one

:49:44.:49:47.

there, the other one there. Was one of them nearer the entrance? Yes,

:49:48.:49:51.

the second one was near to the entrance. People were running from

:49:52.:49:57.

the first,... They were running in the direction of the second? Is that

:49:58.:50:01.

what you think may have happened? Indeed, yes. That was the order that

:50:02.:50:08.

the two explosions went off? Yes. This eyewitness was also in the

:50:09.:50:14.

airport. I was having my break inside the building, and I just

:50:15.:50:18.

heard a loud bang and everything was shaking. Outside the window there

:50:19.:50:23.

was smoke coming out of the departure hall. Yes, they were doing

:50:24.:50:32.

some construction work so we thought maybe something was wrong there.

:50:33.:50:37.

After that it became clear that it was a terrorist explosion. Did you

:50:38.:50:43.

hear or see the explosions? Yes, I felt them and heard them. It was

:50:44.:50:49.

maybe 50 or 60 metres from the departure hall where the explosion

:50:50.:50:55.

was. Did you see it before or after? Just from the outside we saw that

:50:56.:50:58.

all of the windows were shattered. All of the windows were gone. Let's

:50:59.:51:05.

go live to Brussels and our correspondent Gavin Lee is there.

:51:06.:51:09.

You are quite close to the airport, tell us what is happening there now.

:51:10.:51:14.

Yes, less than 500 metres away where the police cordon is. You can see

:51:15.:51:19.

the continued evacuation with buses coming from the airports, people are

:51:20.:51:24.

being taken to a sports hall, there is another information centre, and

:51:25.:51:28.

they keep coming. For the past half-hour people have been leaving

:51:29.:51:31.

the airport. Many people in the departures lounge, we believe the

:51:32.:51:36.

explosions happened in the atrium downstairs as people were checking

:51:37.:51:40.

their baggage. Those upstairs about to fly or just flying from another

:51:41.:51:46.

airport, these people are now being continually evacuated, waiting for

:51:47.:51:48.

other buses to make their way to a sports hall. I have spoken to a man

:51:49.:51:54.

who was a security help with baggage at the airports and he was telling

:51:55.:51:59.

me that he personally helped with 17 people, pulling them to safety after

:52:00.:52:03.

he heard shouting in Arabic, and then he heard the explosions. He was

:52:04.:52:08.

pulling a number of people, several people he was trying to pull to

:52:09.:52:12.

safety, died in front of him and he had a vivid description of how many

:52:13.:52:15.

people were screaming and some of them running over each other at the

:52:16.:52:20.

airport, a lot of people have said there was absolute panic, there was

:52:21.:52:23.

no evacuation strategy of course, they just had to run. If you show

:52:24.:52:28.

the camera this way, this is a business is off the back of the

:52:29.:52:32.

airport, people making their way, many are not sure where they are

:52:33.:52:37.

supposed to go. This line stretches to several thousand people

:52:38.:52:42.

altogether including hundreds on the other side. If we can quickly have a

:52:43.:52:48.

word with some people here, Joy, you were trying to travel to Tel Aviv

:52:49.:52:55.

this morning. Yes. Tell us about what you heard and saw. I did not

:52:56.:52:59.

hear anything, I was on my way to my connecting gate and a lot of people

:53:00.:53:03.

were running. I was not really sure what it was and then there were some

:53:04.:53:06.

announcements that clearly something had gone wrong. The woman's voice

:53:07.:53:12.

was quite shaken, on the intercom. That's when I knew we should move.

:53:13.:53:18.

Yes, we evacuated. I don't know very much about it. When I first spoke to

:53:19.:53:24.

you a moment ago, you looked shaken. Deeply upset by what happened, how

:53:25.:53:28.

are you feeling right now? Yes, it's... Not something you expect.

:53:29.:53:38.

But also, I don't know, yes... Some people have described running out

:53:39.:53:41.

and it was desperate, people running on top of other people to try to get

:53:42.:53:46.

out as quickly as they could, there was no real evacuation plan? Err...

:53:47.:53:51.

At first it was disorganised but by the time I was there people were

:53:52.:53:55.

quite calm and just walking towards the exits and following directions

:53:56.:53:58.

and by the time we were all waiting, they were bringing water and

:53:59.:54:05.

blankets, and people were calm actually. Maybe because they did not

:54:06.:54:08.

know what was going on all because I came after the initial attack. So

:54:09.:54:17.

yes... Did you see as you were being escorted away, did you see the

:54:18.:54:20.

damage that was done to the building? I saw and heard nothing, I

:54:21.:54:25.

only saw just large amounts of people trying to evacuate. You are

:54:26.:54:33.

in this long queue of people, with blankets, many people visit --

:54:34.:54:42.

visibly in shock. Do you know where you are going now? No, they just

:54:43.:54:46.

keep saying we are going to a safer location and the airport is shutdown

:54:47.:54:50.

for 48 hours, I heard. I suppose they are trying to find out what to

:54:51.:54:55.

do with all of us. Yes, I don't know. I have no idea. Thank you for

:54:56.:55:02.

joining us. Good luck. You can hear and see at the moment the scene

:55:03.:55:07.

around us here, many of the security staff came around a short while ago

:55:08.:55:11.

as well and we got a sense of the bigger picture as to what was going

:55:12.:55:15.

on. Right in the atrium number of people said it was by the American

:55:16.:55:20.

Airlines check-in desk that they heard the major explosion, two

:55:21.:55:23.

explosions, one of them was quieter and a larger second explosion did

:55:24.:55:28.

most of the damage, the windows being shattered from the main

:55:29.:55:31.

entrance. As you can see a lot of people in blankets and shawls and

:55:32.:55:37.

there is lots of confusion about where they are going but they are

:55:38.:55:43.

heading to a sports hall. Where am I going? You are going to a sports

:55:44.:55:47.

hall and the authorities say you will get information. What was your

:55:48.:55:56.

situation? I am in the second floor. And it has broken. There was another

:55:57.:56:10.

one. You saw a policeman firing? Tell me about that. What was

:56:11.:56:15.

happening after? This is the problem. It is a problem. Where am I

:56:16.:56:33.

going? Who is helping? I don't have any money to pay for the train.

:56:34.:56:37.

There is a lot of confusion. Thank you for joining us. You get the

:56:38.:56:42.

sense of the scene around us at the moment, this is a significant

:56:43.:56:45.

incident and people are worrying about what they can do. Safety is a

:56:46.:56:50.

big factor, our people safe here? Given what has happened and they are

:56:51.:56:54.

hearing at the explosion at the mile beat Jude station, close to the

:56:55.:57:01.

European Parliament. -- Maelbeek station. We are seeing clarification

:57:02.:57:05.

from American Airlines saying that the explosions were far enough away

:57:06.:57:12.

from their check-in desk that no employees were hurt and other

:57:13.:57:16.

check-in desks were closer. Generally is it safe to say that

:57:17.:57:20.

this part of the airport was pretty open and easy for people to move

:57:21.:57:27.

around? I have seen some footage from one of the security guards

:57:28.:57:33.

involved in moving people away from the airport, lots of people lying on

:57:34.:57:38.

the floor and scrambling to leave, apparently from that angle

:57:39.:57:40.

relatively close to the American Airlines desk but we are hearing

:57:41.:57:44.

that it was not their desk, but I think we have a sense here that it

:57:45.:57:50.

was fairly central and for those who have not been to Brussels airport it

:57:51.:57:55.

is very open and there are usually, you will see seven or eight

:57:56.:57:59.

uniformed army officers walking around the terminals as well, given

:58:00.:58:05.

the incident since the Paris attacks, and the heightened security

:58:06.:58:10.

alert. We were told that there would be an extremely heightened operation

:58:11.:58:13.

following the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. It was four days ago that

:58:14.:58:17.

the missing suspect from the Paris attacks was arrested and only

:58:18.:58:24.

yesterday the interior Minister Jan Jambon said other terror cells could

:58:25.:58:30.

look to operate after that arrest. The Prime Minister Charles Michel

:58:31.:58:32.

said scores of people were injured but there is no exact number at the

:58:33.:58:37.

moment. At the airport and that the Maelbeek station as well. For the

:58:38.:58:41.

moment thank you very much, Gavin Lee close to the airport in

:58:42.:58:45.

Brussels. Let's bring you more about what happened at the Maelbeek metro

:58:46.:58:49.

station. An hour after the airport explosion there was another large

:58:50.:58:53.

explosion at the Metro station and 15 people may have died there with

:58:54.:58:59.

many people injured, 250 people. -- up to 50. Our correspondent is

:59:00.:59:07.

there. I'm in the European quarter in Brussels next to the European

:59:08.:59:11.

Commission and the council and a huge police presence. We saw

:59:12.:59:14.

helicopters, police cars, ambulances, army trucks coming and

:59:15.:59:19.

going. That is because, let me show you, that is Maelbeek Metro station.

:59:20.:59:26.

It has been closed off so no one is allowed in, but there has been an

:59:27.:59:31.

explosion there at 9am this morning. I just spoke to a woman who came out

:59:32.:59:36.

of the station, she told me she was waiting for the Metro when all of a

:59:37.:59:40.

sudden she heard a very loud noise, there was glass everywhere and she

:59:41.:59:46.

saw people injured. She told me that she was in shock. Given the number

:59:47.:59:54.

of ambulances that we so we think there are many injured. The

:59:55.:00:00.

situation is surreal. A reporter for politico told Joanna Gosling what

:00:01.:00:04.

she saw in the aftermath of the barn at Maelbeek metro station. I was

:00:05.:00:08.

outside the Maelbeek metro station, probably a dozen, 15 people lying on

:00:09.:00:14.

the ground outside covered in white sheets. They seemed to be injured

:00:15.:00:18.

but I did not see anyone dared, but I was on the outside of the Metro

:00:19.:00:24.

station looking at the scene. There were people milling around, the

:00:25.:00:26.

ambulances and fire trucks were having difficulty getting through

:00:27.:00:34.

because Maelbeek is an Rue de la Loi which is a one-way street. It was

:00:35.:00:39.

difficult for people to get around the scene. There were some police on

:00:40.:00:44.

the scene tending to the wounded, but it seemed as though there were

:00:45.:00:46.

no ambulances at that point. We can see pictures from inside the

:00:47.:00:56.

tunnel, people walking along inside, and we were speaking to somebody in

:00:57.:01:01.

the adjacent Metro station when the explosion happened and the smoke did

:01:02.:01:06.

travel quickly down the tunnel. Does this explain the confusion,

:01:07.:01:09.

potentially, as to why they might have been explosions at other Metro

:01:10.:01:13.

station is or has indeed been more than one attack? We can confirm the

:01:14.:01:19.

attack on Maelbeek, we had reporters on the ground at another station

:01:20.:01:24.

with reports of an attack and they did not see any sign of an attack at

:01:25.:01:29.

its seams that was a false alarm. As far as I can tell, this was a case

:01:30.:01:33.

of the smoke and the sound travelling through the tunnels but

:01:34.:01:37.

there are no confirmations at this point. We have reporters at stations

:01:38.:01:46.

surrounding the next station from Maelbeek and Schuman station in the

:01:47.:01:49.

opposite direction and there are no confirmed reports. What are the

:01:50.:01:55.

reports on where the explosion was apparently detonated? Under the

:01:56.:02:01.

ground? Closer to the entrance? It was not on the ground level at the

:02:02.:02:07.

top of the station. I could see, I could not see any damage on the

:02:08.:02:09.

outside of the station from both sides of the street so it seems like

:02:10.:02:14.

a was probably down in the station itself but we do not know exactly.

:02:15.:02:18.

Whether it was a platform for further up. Reuters as saying nobody

:02:19.:02:26.

was killed in the explosion inside Brussels Metro carriage. The first

:02:27.:02:33.

report of casualties are not in the Metro station but that does indicate

:02:34.:02:38.

the explosion did happen inside a Metro carriage? And this was

:02:39.:02:44.

rush-hour? Yes, it was a little bit after, it was after nine AEM when

:02:45.:02:49.

this happened so there would have been many people inside the Metro

:02:50.:02:52.

but I think this was a case of people getting lucky. I think once

:02:53.:02:58.

people heard about the Brussels airport attack, there was a feeling

:02:59.:03:03.

that people should not take the Metro from within my office. We were

:03:04.:03:08.

talking about the Metro being dangerous so that would have been

:03:09.:03:13.

helping matters because people were naturally cautious to go underground

:03:14.:03:18.

after these attacks. We can take you live to Brussels and speak to Evan

:03:19.:03:29.

Lamos. An incredibly unsettling time. What happened? I was on my

:03:30.:03:35.

work -- way to work this morning, I had just left the Arts-Loi station

:03:36.:03:41.

and I was between that and Maelbeek when we felt a blast of air inside

:03:42.:03:46.

the Metro and it immediately stopped, the lights turned off and

:03:47.:03:50.

the engine stopped and we heard a message saying that there had been a

:03:51.:03:53.

disturbance on the line. That continued for a few minutes until

:03:54.:03:59.

somebody working for the Metro came to the back and those on the last

:04:00.:04:04.

carriage, they installed a ladder and evacuated us from the Metro onto

:04:05.:04:09.

the tracks, walking back towards the Arts-Loi station and we then went

:04:10.:04:14.

above ground and evacuated. We can hear the sound of a child crying.

:04:15.:04:19.

Otherwise, it seems reasonably calm. What was the feeling? At first,

:04:20.:04:26.

people were quite nervous. A lot of people like myself reading the news

:04:27.:04:30.

of the explosions at the airport on the way to work so immediately when

:04:31.:04:35.

the Metro stop, people were quite concerned observers and a lot of

:04:36.:04:38.

people were chatting and then when the evacuation started one person

:04:39.:04:43.

rushed a little bit, jumped over some seats to exit before somebody

:04:44.:04:47.

else, but for the most part everybody was calm and proceeded to

:04:48.:04:54.

the exit quickly, carefully and in a slow manner. Everyone was walking

:04:55.:04:58.

out and helping each other, a few people needed help with kids and

:04:59.:05:05.

bags. The city is on lockdown, people are told to stay at home, the

:05:06.:05:08.

terror threat is at its highest level. What is a feeling in the

:05:09.:05:13.

city? I have not been in the city for the past hour so I evacuated and

:05:14.:05:20.

walked to my office and immediate sense I got was that people were not

:05:21.:05:25.

sure what was going on. It is working so a lot of people were on

:05:26.:05:28.

the way to the office and maybe the feeling was, what should I do? Where

:05:29.:05:34.

should I go? There was no sense of panic and we saw the police posing

:05:35.:05:38.

of the area that I have not been in the city so I do not know if this

:05:39.:05:42.

has changed. The authorities are telling us that this is what they

:05:43.:05:46.

feared since Paris and they have been preparing for this. Did you

:05:47.:05:49.

expect something like this to happen? Did you go to work thinking

:05:50.:05:53.

this could be the day? I do not think so, immediately after the

:05:54.:05:59.

Paris attack there was some concern but myself and I think many people

:06:00.:06:06.

in Brussels decided that we should not let this affect our lives

:06:07.:06:09.

forever so you get back into the daily routine and things become

:06:10.:06:13.

normal and there have been military guards around Brussels and Metro

:06:14.:06:16.

stations and government buildings and that has become normal. I did

:06:17.:06:20.

not think it was expected by many people or feared. Are you worried

:06:21.:06:27.

about your safety or are you confident the security services will

:06:28.:06:31.

be able to keep you and people in Belgium safe? For the immediate

:06:32.:06:38.

future I am not worried. We are in a safe area that has been locked down

:06:39.:06:42.

by the police and we will see what comes, what messages are conveyed by

:06:43.:06:46.

the government and we will decide at that point whether to worry or not

:06:47.:06:51.

but I am confident they will do the best to their ability. Thank you. We

:06:52.:07:03.

can recapture for you... -- recap. The first two explosions happened at

:07:04.:07:09.

the airport, killing 11 people. And many others severely injured. That

:07:10.:07:15.

is what we are told by medical sources in Brussels. A short-term

:07:16.:07:20.

measure, an attack on the Metro system, killing, we believe, 15

:07:21.:07:25.

people and injuring 55 others in the blast at the Maelbeek Metro station,

:07:26.:07:29.

which is very close to the European institutions in Brussels. The three

:07:30.:07:35.

big real decisions have been closed and all public transport has been

:07:36.:07:39.

shut down. And that is rather worrying for people, who have been

:07:40.:07:42.

told to stay at home with their children and not leave their

:07:43.:07:47.

offices. These blasts, four days after the capture in Brussels of

:07:48.:07:51.

Salah Abdeslam. Investigators say he is one of the men behind those

:07:52.:07:57.

attacks in Paris. The Belgian Prime Minister has been speaking about

:07:58.:07:59.

this, talking a short while ago, he condemned what he called wind and

:08:00.:08:03.

commonly attacks and called on people to come together.

:08:04.:08:08.

TRANSLATION: Our first thoughts are with the victims. With their

:08:09.:08:16.

families. And those who are waiting for information about loved ones.

:08:17.:08:27.

Two attacks happened this morning. One at the airport and the other at

:08:28.:08:31.

the Metro station in Maelbeek and as we speak, and because of security,

:08:32.:08:36.

we are trying to stabilise the situation. Our thoughts are going

:08:37.:08:48.

towards other locations. The first urgent action is to provide

:08:49.:08:51.

treatment for the victims, to evacuate the victims of this attack.

:08:52.:08:58.

Towards various hospitals and we know that probably we are talking

:08:59.:09:06.

about scores of dead, scores of injured people and some of them

:09:07.:09:14.

seriously. The authorities are evaluating the threat and every

:09:15.:09:19.

state to level four and additional measures are being taken as we

:09:20.:09:23.

speak. Military reinforcement is being deployed. Reinforcement over

:09:24.:09:33.

border controls are in action. Especially measures regarding public

:09:34.:09:35.

transport, they are put in place as we speak. I would like to tell you

:09:36.:09:44.

that this tragic moment, this black moment in our country, I would like

:09:45.:09:51.

to call on everybody to show calmness and solidarity. We are

:09:52.:09:57.

facing a challenging time, a difficult and challenging time and

:09:58.:10:00.

we should face up to this challenge by being united, solitary and also

:10:01.:10:08.

by coming together. We will continue to follow this situation minute by

:10:09.:10:12.

minute with different security services, with different rescue

:10:13.:10:20.

services. I will to thank the security services for the work they

:10:21.:10:23.

have done so far. And I would like to tell you once again that we are

:10:24.:10:30.

determined to face the situation and manage the situation and to do with

:10:31.:10:38.

this as best as possible. The Belgian Prime Minister. Gordon

:10:39.:10:44.

Correra joins us. Is it fair to say that the terrorists, we think, are

:10:45.:10:48.

behind these attacks and this demonstrates they have given

:10:49.:10:52.

abilities that extent far beyond Salah Abdeslam? When Salah Abdeslam

:10:53.:10:59.

was arrested the French president said there was a much bigger network

:11:00.:11:03.

behind the Paris attacks and previously was thought. Many more

:11:04.:11:07.

people. What the connection is to the events today is not clear. We

:11:08.:11:12.

should say that. But there is a sense that there might be many more

:11:13.:11:17.

people connected, any more networks and previously understood. And the

:11:18.:11:21.

authorities have got a struggle because of the flow of people out to

:11:22.:11:25.

Iraq and Syria and the return of many of them back, some of them

:11:26.:11:28.

perhaps undetected, and the threat they might pose. If this is the work

:11:29.:11:34.

of Islamic State, where might we get some claim of responsible to? With

:11:35.:11:39.

Paris we had that within one day, it was longer to get video tape. It is

:11:40.:11:44.

not clear if this was a network directly collected -- connected to

:11:45.:11:50.

Salah Abdeslam, it is possible it was and this is hypothetical but you

:11:51.:11:54.

can imagine that him having been arrested on Friday, suddenly others

:11:55.:11:59.

connected to him realise the or onto them, they fear that he is perhaps

:12:00.:12:02.

talking and they quickly decide to carry out an attack. But as

:12:03.:12:06.

possible, we do not know for sure, but as one scenario but this could

:12:07.:12:11.

be another unconnected group. The 40s will be trying to work that out

:12:12.:12:14.

quickly and the other urgent thing to understand is, we think there was

:12:15.:12:18.

one suicide bomber at the airport but harmony others, could they pose

:12:19.:12:25.

a threat, if you are leaving bombs in places rather than being suicide

:12:26.:12:28.

bombers? And is the issue of potential follow-on attacks. Belgium

:12:29.:12:36.

on the maximum state of alert, is it surprisingly that was not like that

:12:37.:12:40.

already given that 24 hours ago authorities said they believed those

:12:41.:12:43.

claims from Salah Abdeslam that further attacks planned and they

:12:44.:12:46.

were concerned, publicly said there might be some sort of revenge pawn

:12:47.:12:52.

to? There have been concerns around Belgium, straight after Paris the

:12:53.:12:55.

city were shot down, there were fears of gun attacks, there have

:12:56.:12:59.

been many alerts since then. Any lock downs, any fears of potential

:13:00.:13:05.

attacks. The city of Brussels and Belgium has been on edge, it has

:13:06.:13:12.

been worried about attacks and in the wake of that arrest on Friday of

:13:13.:13:15.

Salah Abdeslam, we still do not know if that was the trigger but it is

:13:16.:13:20.

quite possible that has been the reason for people to attack, not

:13:21.:13:24.

perhaps for revenge but perhaps of a few they might be caught. It was a

:13:25.:13:29.

soft target at the airport? What we're hearing is this happened

:13:30.:13:32.

before any security checks in the public job of area happened and that

:13:33.:13:38.

will be a huge concern for people and airport operators around the

:13:39.:13:42.

world? An issue with airports is was tight security in some places, once

:13:43.:13:47.

you go through check-in and you have the metal detector and other checks,

:13:48.:13:51.

but where do you place the security at airports because at the moment

:13:52.:13:54.

there is relatively it'll add the check-in point but if you try to

:13:55.:13:59.

secure the entrance, you potentially have all of those people waiting

:14:00.:14:02.

outside the airport and you simply displace the point of danger to just

:14:03.:14:07.

outside, where people might have to queue to get in through metal

:14:08.:14:09.

detectors or other potential bomb sniffing technology. There is a

:14:10.:14:15.

question about airport security. Where do you place the perimeter?

:14:16.:14:22.

Some of the applications for travellers, which can be quite

:14:23.:14:27.

severe. This might lead to questions about that but the solutions are not

:14:28.:14:30.

straightforward. If we look at the attack on the Metro as well, in

:14:31.:14:36.

Brussels are seeing this concentration on transport hubs? The

:14:37.:14:42.

Metro is another soft target, the challenges, how much can you do in

:14:43.:14:45.

terms of metal and explosive detection at every Metro station?

:14:46.:14:50.

This is a huge obligation for transport and that leaves them as a

:14:51.:14:53.

vulnerable place and we have large gatherings of people which can be

:14:54.:14:59.

hit. It is a pattern since Paris, Paris was very notable in the way

:15:00.:15:04.

that Islamic State sent people to strike at people at concert tours

:15:05.:15:08.

and football matches and soft targets. Not military, not even

:15:09.:15:15.

police targets, which we had seen before from so-called Islamic State.

:15:16.:15:19.

But clearly going for a maximum civilian casualties. Like so much

:15:20.:15:23.

fun. We have had reaction from readers around Europe. Francois

:15:24.:15:27.

Hollande says this is a terror attack that has struck the whole of

:15:28.:15:31.

Europe. Through the attacks in Brussels, the whole of Europe has

:15:32.:15:36.

been hurting. He urges everybody to take vital steps in the face of

:15:37.:15:40.

this. When that many more troops have been deployed in France as

:15:41.:15:44.

well. They're expecting a statement from the President of France any

:15:45.:15:45.

minute. We will bring that to you. Let's have a look at how and when

:15:46.:15:53.

the events unfolded in Brussels. At around 07:20GMT those two

:15:54.:16:05.

explosions took place Reports have described

:16:06.:16:07.

chaotic scenes there. Both explosions happened

:16:08.:16:09.

at the Zaventem airport in departure area, in areas busy with people

:16:10.:16:12.

queuing to check in their luggage. At 07:50GMT airport officials

:16:13.:16:16.

confirmed explosions and people started evacuating

:16:17.:16:20.

the airport building. An hour later at around 8:50GMT

:16:21.:16:28.

there was another explosion Maelbeek metro station -

:16:29.:16:30.

as we've been saying it's close Several people have

:16:31.:16:33.

been killed or injured. Latest reports on the number

:16:34.:16:39.

casualties is that nearly 26 people have been killed and

:16:40.:16:42.

around 50 injured. Both airport and metro system have

:16:43.:16:50.

been closed as well. All public transport

:16:51.:16:52.

there shut down. Let's go to Paris where the

:16:53.:16:58.

president Francois Hollande is about to give an address. TRANSLATION:

:16:59.:17:03.

These attacks have been perpetrated which left a number of people dead,

:17:04.:17:05.

and dozens of people injured. .. The challenge, and for the

:17:06.:17:27.

families who are worried about their loved ones, our thoughts are with

:17:28.:17:31.

them and we share their pain. The terrorists have struck Belgium, but

:17:32.:17:37.

it is Europe that has been targeted, it is the whole world that is

:17:38.:17:44.

concerned with this. We should take conscience of the magnitude and the

:17:45.:17:51.

gravity of the terrorist threat, these attacks follow others, Paris

:17:52.:18:01.

was particularly last year, last January, and in November. Other

:18:02.:18:10.

continents have felt the same pain, especially in Africa. We are facing

:18:11.:18:19.

a global threat, which necessitates and requires a global response.

:18:20.:18:24.

France and Belgium are linked in the horror that we are sharing once

:18:25.:18:32.

again. And I have reassured the Belgian government that we will give

:18:33.:18:36.

them our full support and we will provide them all of the necessary

:18:37.:18:45.

means, and war against terrorists should be carried out throughout

:18:46.:18:49.

Europe using the same necessary means, and especially intelligence

:18:50.:18:55.

information. Once again, we should make sure that the decisions are

:18:56.:19:01.

effectively put in place. We should react on an international level.

:19:02.:19:06.

This is what France has been doing within the coalition in Syria and

:19:07.:19:11.

Iraq. This is what France is doing in Africa. Other countries should

:19:12.:19:23.

also be committed and engaged on an international level. We should take

:19:24.:19:30.

this war against terrorists by showing the necessary vigilance, and

:19:31.:19:36.

this is why today the French government has taken measures to

:19:37.:19:43.

consolidate, measures along the borders and also the presence of

:19:44.:19:53.

gendarme and military, at all airports and railway stations. This

:19:54.:20:01.

war against terrorism should be taken in a calm, lucid and

:20:02.:20:06.

determined way because it will be a long war. We should put in place all

:20:07.:20:14.

of this, all of these means that are available, and that is what we have

:20:15.:20:21.

been doing. Like having legislative means, and we should be efficient

:20:22.:20:26.

and respectful of liberties. And we should also make sure that our unity

:20:27.:20:31.

is not harmed, unity on a European level. And I can also talk about

:20:32.:20:38.

unity globally and countries who would like to act against terrorism,

:20:39.:20:45.

but the most important unity is on a national level and everyone should

:20:46.:20:52.

be conscious that we should unite and be cohesive and we should show

:20:53.:21:01.

solidarity. Today we are with Belgium, yesterday it is towards

:21:02.:21:06.

France that other countries expressed their solidarity and

:21:07.:21:08.

conscience, and we are concerned and that is why at the beginning of this

:21:09.:21:14.

meeting, as we think about the investments that we can provide to

:21:15.:21:20.

our country and Europe, we should be here with you. But also we should be

:21:21.:21:28.

aware of the subject, there would be no economic development, there would

:21:29.:21:34.

be no endurable investment, if there is no security. And the main element

:21:35.:21:40.

of Security, the element of security is also to attract investment. We

:21:41.:21:48.

would like to ensure you that all means have been taken in France and

:21:49.:21:53.

at a wider level in Europe. And on behalf of France, and I can assure

:21:54.:22:05.

you personally, that you can invest with all lucidity in France, but

:22:06.:22:12.

also in our security. Thank you. Now, I am going to talk about

:22:13.:22:16.

questions that are of primary concern to you. You are 30

:22:17.:22:23.

enterprises from various geographic regions. We are meeting here to

:22:24.:22:28.

discuss the attractiveness of investment. For over two years,

:22:29.:22:35.

every six months, we meet here on a regular basis to evaluate what we

:22:36.:22:41.

have done will stop the government of France and you as investors and

:22:42.:22:48.

also to hear some of your proposals and suggestions which can actually

:22:49.:22:57.

improve our attraction. And investment. I would like to show

:22:58.:23:04.

that we are listening to you. And a number of measures have been taken,

:23:05.:23:09.

especially about the fiscal side of companies and personnel. STUDIO:

:23:10.:23:17.

President Francois Hollande reassuring the Belgian government

:23:18.:23:20.

that they will provide all necessary means to the Belgian government in

:23:21.:23:23.

the war against terrorism and he said the war should be carried out

:23:24.:23:28.

throughout Europe with an emphasis on intelligence sharing. Facing a

:23:29.:23:31.

global threat, he said, the world has to tackle that and we must unite

:23:32.:23:36.

and show solidarity. France is still in a state of emergency after

:23:37.:23:43.

November 13 attacks. One other line is that the Eiffel Tower will be lit

:23:44.:23:46.

up in the colours of the Belgian flag as a mark of solidarity. You

:23:47.:23:52.

are watching a BBC News special as the Belgian capital has been hit by

:23:53.:23:58.

multiple bomb attacks targeting the main airport and a Metro station. At

:23:59.:24:04.

least one is thought to be a suicide bomb. The Belgian Prime Minister

:24:05.:24:09.

Charles Michel has said many people are thought to have been injured. We

:24:10.:24:13.

know that at least 26 people have been killed. He called it a black

:24:14.:24:18.

day for his nation. It is thought 11 people were killed in the check-in

:24:19.:24:23.

area and 30 injured. An hour later and another explosion at Maelbeek

:24:24.:24:28.

Metro station in the City close to the main parliament buildings, 15

:24:29.:24:32.

people are confirmed to have been killed and 50 others wounded. The

:24:33.:24:39.

schools, Metro and rail services have all been closed and Eurostar

:24:40.:24:44.

trains have been halted. The capital was already on a state of high alert

:24:45.:24:49.

following the arrest of Paris Terror suspect Salah Abdeslam in the City

:24:50.:24:52.

last week. The Belgian Prime Minister is calling for calm and

:24:53.:24:56.

solidarity and he said at a news conference short while ago that he

:24:57.:25:00.

would send 200 extra troops to the capital. He said, this was the

:25:01.:25:07.

attack that we'll was feared. Let's point you to the website and the BBC

:25:08.:25:16.

News app, live updates as they happen. All of our correspondents

:25:17.:25:19.

are tweeting and eyewitnesses as well. We have maps explaining

:25:20.:25:24.

exactly where these attacks took place and also news from around

:25:25.:25:29.

Europe about how various airports are responding and also messages of

:25:30.:25:32.

solidarity from various leaders. That is all there on the website. We

:25:33.:25:37.

are now joined by Matthew Henman, the head of IHS Jane's terrorism and

:25:38.:25:43.

insurgency centre, he joins us from central London. Thank you for

:25:44.:25:45.

joining us. Hearing what we have heard about the relative freedom of

:25:46.:25:51.

movement land side at Brussels airport, our use of prized it was a

:25:52.:25:57.

target? No, it's not as a prize at all, militant Islamist groups over

:25:58.:26:01.

the past months in Europe have shown their commitment and dedication to

:26:02.:26:05.

striking targets which are full of civilians and foreign nationals. To

:26:06.:26:08.

have maximum impact from their attacks. Do you think there will be

:26:09.:26:14.

a pretty swift response now in terms of airport security especially land

:26:15.:26:20.

side? I think the fact that the check-in and departures section was

:26:21.:26:24.

attacked which is obviously relatively unsecured, compared to

:26:25.:26:29.

the proper departure lounges means that there will be an intensified

:26:30.:26:32.

security effort at airports across Europe in response to the attack. As

:26:33.:26:37.

you already mentioned, it will be very difficult to maintain over the

:26:38.:26:41.

long-term in terms of cost and disruption implications. In the

:26:42.:26:45.

immediate term it is a clear security priority. We were chatting

:26:46.:26:50.

with our security correspondent short while ago about the

:26:51.:26:53.

capabilities of terror groups like Isis in Belgium, and the authorities

:26:54.:26:58.

thought with the arrest of Salah Abdeslam that they had turned a

:26:59.:27:01.

corner this apparently demonstrates that that was not the case.

:27:02.:27:10.

Absolutely. The fact that firstly, the wider logistics and facilitation

:27:11.:27:13.

network that supported the Paris attackers in November, the fact that

:27:14.:27:17.

they were still at large, demonstrated by the fact that Salah

:27:18.:27:21.

Abdeslam was able to remain at large for almost four months before he was

:27:22.:27:25.

arrested, indicates that there is a much wider network in place in

:27:26.:27:28.

Western Europe. There are likely more cells who are either preparing

:27:29.:27:33.

all ready to carry out attacks like we have seen in Brussels this

:27:34.:27:37.

morning. Unfortunately until that wider network is rolled up and

:27:38.:27:40.

destroyed by security services we are likely to see more attacks of

:27:41.:27:46.

this kind. What can you tell us about coming in broader terms,

:27:47.:27:50.

Belgium, these are the individuals who may have left the country and

:27:51.:27:57.

travelled to places like Syria and come back with the intention of

:27:58.:28:00.

carrying out attacks because Belgium and Brussels does seem to have been

:28:01.:28:04.

a particular target? Well, it has been well documented that out of all

:28:05.:28:09.

of the EU countries Brussels has by far the largest proportion of

:28:10.:28:13.

foreign fighters travelling to Syria and Iraq. Hundreds of fighters have

:28:14.:28:17.

travelled there, received training and combat experience at the hands

:28:18.:28:21.

of Islamic State. They have likely been prepared to return to their

:28:22.:28:26.

country to launch operations there. Belgium is particularly

:28:27.:28:29.

strategically situated in that sense in that it is relatively easy for

:28:30.:28:32.

militants to slip across borders into different countries to launch

:28:33.:28:37.

attacks, and you have a situation in areas Brussels like Molenbeek which

:28:38.:28:42.

are particularly difficult was a curative services to penetrate and

:28:43.:28:47.

successfully root out these individuals. We know that the

:28:48.:28:52.

security services, not just in Belgium but France, Germany, the UK,

:28:53.:28:57.

are particularly stretched in terms of resources and capabilities and in

:28:58.:29:00.

terms of tracking individuals who are returning from Iraq and Syria.

:29:01.:29:05.

When you have a country like Belgium that is comparatively small, it has

:29:06.:29:11.

a smaller budget for tracking people returning, combined with a large

:29:12.:29:14.

flow of people coming back from Syria and Iraq, that is a very

:29:15.:29:20.

dangerous situation indeed. Matthew Henman from IHS Jane's terrorism and

:29:21.:29:24.

insurgency centre, thank you very much. A reminder of the breaking

:29:25.:29:28.

news today from Brussels, three explosions have killed 26 people in

:29:29.:29:33.

the capital, two blasts targeted the main airport one of them was carried

:29:34.:29:43.

out by a suicide bomber. It was a scene of chaos and chaos. Huge panic

:29:44.:29:48.

at the airport when those explosions went off. Let's talk to Odetta Islam

:29:49.:29:59.

who was at the airport this morning. What happened? We were just having

:30:00.:30:07.

breakfast. We were with my mum. Suddenly there was an explosion on

:30:08.:30:14.

our right. And pieces of wall started to fall. Everybody started

:30:15.:30:22.

running. So did we. Within five or ten seconds there was a second blast

:30:23.:30:28.

on the left. It was full of smoke and we did not really know where to

:30:29.:30:35.

go. We just don't in the middle. I think for about five minutes. But

:30:36.:30:44.

there was nobody to help, who came to help. There was no guidance or

:30:45.:30:50.

anything. There was smoke there and we could not breathe and that was

:30:51.:30:52.

the moment we actually thought we had to go out.

:30:53.:30:57.

It must have been frightening for you? It was. I was not only their

:30:58.:31:07.

with my mother, my whole family. My father and my brothers also. Did you

:31:08.:31:12.

see people who had been killed and injured? Yes, we saw people who are

:31:13.:31:19.

really injured. I saw a mother with a newborn baby, a mother with two

:31:20.:31:24.

little children, a man lying on the floor. Covered in blood. Was a lot

:31:25.:31:37.

of smoke and glass? There was a lot of smoke so we could not see

:31:38.:31:40.

anything at the beginning. We did see the glass. But there was a lot

:31:41.:31:49.

of dust. And also, parts of the wall falling down. Was anybody offering

:31:50.:32:00.

to help? Not from inside, everybody was in a state of shock and there

:32:01.:32:08.

was nobody from security so we actually had to find our own way

:32:09.:32:15.

outside. Did people realise that it was a bomb? Yes. Well, in the

:32:16.:32:23.

beginning we did not but then when the second explosion took place we

:32:24.:32:27.

did know it was a bomb and that there could be more. Did that make

:32:28.:32:37.

people... Was also a sense of panic and worry that there might be

:32:38.:32:43.

another bomb? Yes. Of course. Definitely in my mind. There were

:32:44.:32:53.

people trying to hide under a desk or in a room. Trying to find

:32:54.:33:00.

somewhere to hide. You are safe now at home in Antwerp? Yes, back on.

:33:01.:33:08.

The journey was one and a half hours. Thank you for telling us what

:33:09.:33:15.

you went through. Mina Al-Lami is an expert on jihadi media and joins us.

:33:16.:33:24.

What sort of chatter have you seen on jihadi media about this? So

:33:25.:33:29.

further has been no jihadist claim of responsibility for the Brussels

:33:30.:33:33.

attacks and in the absence of that, we look at the chatter, the tweets

:33:34.:33:39.

of supporters of jihadist group is, be it Al-Qaeda its rival, Islamic

:33:40.:33:48.

State. While ISO is not claimed the attack, supporters have been in

:33:49.:33:53.

celebration on Twitter, sharing images and heavily twitching under

:33:54.:33:58.

an Arabic language hashtag that translates as Brussels under fire.

:33:59.:34:03.

They have used a similar hashtag, Paris under fire. During the Paris

:34:04.:34:09.

attacks. They seem to at least believe, strongly believe, that it

:34:10.:34:17.

is behind this. I wonder how we can relate this in terms of the media

:34:18.:34:23.

you are monitoring to the arrest and capture of Salah Abdeslam in a few

:34:24.:34:27.

days ago? Because there has been speculation that this was some high

:34:28.:34:35.

retribution for that and perhaps followers of his had put forward

:34:36.:34:40.

some attacks were planning because he was captured rather than an act

:34:41.:34:44.

of retribution. Any sense of what is going on? This was also a key line

:34:45.:34:51.

in the reaction, that this was revenge for the arrest of Salah

:34:52.:34:55.

Abdeslam. This could not have been a very impulsive reaction because the

:34:56.:34:59.

attacks clearly took planning and coordination. Especially with

:35:00.:35:05.

infiltration, the attack was carried out at the airport and the Metro,

:35:06.:35:09.

with tight security, so it could not have been impulsive but they seem to

:35:10.:35:13.

believe it was in some way connected to the address of a groovy arrest.

:35:14.:35:18.

Others have said that this was in retribution for the 19th of March US

:35:19.:35:24.

air strikes on the University so that was another line with IS

:35:25.:35:31.

supporters can to bidding. If the group is indeed behind this, this is

:35:32.:35:38.

likely to delay the claim of responsibility until everything has

:35:39.:35:41.

been concluded. I mean, but there are no further attacks planned and

:35:42.:35:45.

that the operatives have either been killed or have escaped. This is what

:35:46.:35:51.

it did for the Paris attacks so until everything is concluded, Isis

:35:52.:35:56.

is unlikely to put out any claim. Thank you for that.

:35:57.:36:00.

With me is Julia Ebner, who's from the Qulliam Foundation,

:36:01.:36:03.

a think-tank which campaigns against radicalisation.

:36:04.:36:05.

We're just hearing that IS supporters are cheering about what

:36:06.:36:15.

happened today in Brussels. Do you think this attack is connected to

:36:16.:36:18.

what we have seen with Salah Abdeslam? Of course, it has not been

:36:19.:36:22.

confirmed but we do think it is highly likely that it was led by

:36:23.:36:28.

splinter cells of Isis, especially that it came four days after the

:36:29.:36:33.

abreast of Salah Abdeslam and that he has leaked a lot of information,

:36:34.:36:37.

he has been described as a gold mine for information. It seems likely

:36:38.:36:43.

that his network, which certainly exists within Brussels and

:36:44.:36:49.

Molenbeek, has been busy during the last few days preparing something.

:36:50.:36:54.

And panicking that they could feel the noose tightening? He was giving

:36:55.:36:59.

away information? Right. Are you concerned that this was not stopped.

:37:00.:37:05.

The authorities were on high alert, expecting something like this, yet

:37:06.:37:09.

were not able to stop it? It is definitely very alarming to see that

:37:10.:37:14.

at the most secure areas, this busy biggest airport in Belgium, it was

:37:15.:37:20.

attacked. And the European quarter in Brussels, which has seen very

:37:21.:37:27.

tight security over the past few months, that it is very alarming

:37:28.:37:33.

that not more has been done to prevent this. What is going wrong in

:37:34.:37:37.

terms of how the security services are operating? And we're not seeing

:37:38.:37:41.

enough cooperation between different countries? I think the cooperation

:37:42.:37:47.

between the security forces in Belgium and France has really been

:37:48.:37:52.

increased and enhanced in the last few months, since Charlie Hebdo, but

:37:53.:37:56.

there are still problems that these agencies are facing and there is a

:37:57.:38:03.

lack of capacity. It is not the fault of the security agencies, they

:38:04.:38:06.

also lack the personnel to be secure. What about the bigger

:38:07.:38:13.

question, about radicalisation in Belgium and across Europe? Brussels

:38:14.:38:19.

is often called a jihadist hotbed. Is enough being done? Certainly not.

:38:20.:38:26.

These attacks show us that since we do not have the capacity to properly

:38:27.:38:30.

secure these places, we need to work closer on preventing these attacks

:38:31.:38:37.

from happening and that is by working on a civil society level, a

:38:38.:38:45.

community approach and going into areas of Molenbeek, we can see

:38:46.:38:49.

radicalisation thriving because of grievances that exist, because of

:38:50.:38:53.

social economic grievances and other grievances, issues of integration

:38:54.:39:00.

have not been addressed so we need a full spectrum approach to address

:39:01.:39:06.

these. Thank you for joining us. Katya Adler is on the streets of

:39:07.:39:11.

Brussels and has sent us this report.

:39:12.:39:16.

Brussels is on Highland. This morning, three explosions have been

:39:17.:39:21.

confirmed by the Belgian authorities as terrorist attacks. Two in the

:39:22.:39:25.

rustling airport and one of them might in the heart of the European

:39:26.:39:31.

Union headquarters at a Metro station around the corner from here.

:39:32.:39:35.

Helicopters are circling overhead, ambulances rushing to the scene and

:39:36.:39:39.

at least one carriage exploded completely. The number of casualties

:39:40.:39:43.

has not yet been confirmed officially. This is a huge worry for

:39:44.:39:47.

the people of Belgium and an embarrassment for the Belgian

:39:48.:39:51.

authorities. In four days ago there were salivating that they had

:39:52.:39:54.

finally captured the most wanted man linked to the Paris attacks will

:39:55.:39:59.

stampede to the authorities he had been planning attacks in Belgium and

:40:00.:40:02.

no one guessed they would happened today and at rush-hour, where they

:40:03.:40:05.

could strike the most people possible. Katya Adler on the streets

:40:06.:40:15.

of Brussels. Claude is a Labour MEP and chair of the Justice and home

:40:16.:40:18.

affairs committee in the European Parliament. It was trying to make

:40:19.:40:21.

his way to Brussels but the train was cancelled. The scale of this

:40:22.:40:28.

devastation is extraordinary. That is the first thing to say, our

:40:29.:40:32.

sympathies are with all of the victims and the numbers seem to be

:40:33.:40:36.

going up as we speak. And the casually figures seem to be going up

:40:37.:40:39.

so that is a first thing. We heard earlier from one of my colleagues

:40:40.:40:44.

inside the building, Richard Ashcroft, who said things are very

:40:45.:40:50.

much on lockdown. For a medium-sized city like Brussels, this is

:40:51.:40:54.

extraordinary. We were not on the highest level of alert. We thought

:40:55.:41:02.

that was an issue. There will be visible changes on the streets. The

:41:03.:41:11.

airport, for people who know it, it is very public as you go in and for

:41:12.:41:16.

anyone who understands that space will understand what the devastation

:41:17.:41:19.

would have been like for different people and it is the same with the

:41:20.:41:23.

Metro area. It is very shocking to hear about this. Let me just bring

:41:24.:41:30.

you an update on the exact location of the explosions in the airport.

:41:31.:41:33.

American Airlines say it has additional clarity across the

:41:34.:41:38.

explosions were reported to have been centred on their departure area

:41:39.:41:42.

of Brussels airport. American Airlines say the word two separate

:41:43.:41:51.

explosions, zone three and 11 and we are in zone eight. One of those

:41:52.:42:00.

explosions was a suicide bomber. Claude, you are talking about the

:42:01.:42:03.

security lockdown that there is in Brussels. Potentially, that could be

:42:04.:42:11.

open-ended? We have seen a security lockdown in Brussels before and

:42:12.:42:13.

after the Paris attacks and it went on for some time. There will be some

:42:14.:42:18.

visible differences lie because of the scale of this attack. It is well

:42:19.:42:23.

known in Brussels because -- that we have these highest concentration of

:42:24.:42:30.

so-called foreign fighters. This has been an ongoing issue. And because

:42:31.:42:37.

of the scale of this attack, there will be more visible signs of

:42:38.:42:42.

security, although there were very visible signs already in public

:42:43.:42:46.

places, soldiers on the streets and so on and at public buildings. That

:42:47.:42:54.

was already the case. There will be more marked signs of this. There was

:42:55.:42:57.

already heightened intelligence sharing going on so many of these

:42:58.:43:03.

heightened elements were already happening but there will be a much

:43:04.:43:07.

higher scale, bigger volume of soldiers being brought in to

:43:08.:43:11.

Brussels. That has already been announced. The Labour MEPs speaking

:43:12.:43:18.

to Joanna Gosling. The latest we're hearing from Belgian capital... It

:43:19.:43:25.

is on lockdown, people are told to stay at home after a series of

:43:26.:43:29.

deadly attacks across the city and we're hearing the 26 people have

:43:30.:43:34.

been killed, many injured and the threat level across the country has

:43:35.:43:38.

been raised to maximum. Dozens injured in those explosions, earlier

:43:39.:43:43.

today we have heard from the Belgian Prime Minister calling this a black

:43:44.:43:48.

day for the country. As you look at these images of people escaping from

:43:49.:43:54.

the Metro station. Horrendous scenes and at the airport today. Charles

:43:55.:44:03.

Michel calling for solidarity in the face of these attacks and sending

:44:04.:44:07.

200 additional troops to the Belgian capital and we have also heard from

:44:08.:44:14.

the French president offering France's support and all necessary

:44:15.:44:19.

means to try to tackle terrorism. He said it was a war against terror

:44:20.:44:23.

that had to be fought across Europe at the very best of intelligence

:44:24.:44:27.

sharing. The first exposure and is targeted the airport. Terrible scene

:44:28.:44:33.

at the moment, the windows shattered and ceiling panels have collapsed

:44:34.:44:35.

onto the floor under was a huge amount of chaos and confusion. What

:44:36.:44:43.

you are seeing is the Metro station, right beside those EU institutions

:44:44.:44:47.

and after those attacks on the airport there was an explosion there

:44:48.:44:50.

and you can see people desperately trying to get out of the Metro

:44:51.:44:54.

carriage and walking down the line to another station, being taken to

:44:55.:45:01.

safety. And all other stations, the real decisions in Brussels have been

:45:02.:45:04.

closed and public transport across the city has shut down. Eurostar is

:45:05.:45:09.

not running, it feels like the city is on lockdown. And Belgian is on

:45:10.:45:15.

the maximum alert for security. It had not been until today. Despite

:45:16.:45:21.

the arrest in a few days ago of the chief Paris attack suspect, Salah

:45:22.:45:22.

Abdeslam. Hello, I'm Lucy Hockings you're

:45:23.:45:31.

watching a BBC News Special on our continuing coverage

:45:32.:45:33.

of the situation in Brussels. The Belgian capital is hit

:45:34.:45:35.

by a series of attacks killing At least 11 people are killed

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at Brussels international airport as two explosions tore

:45:41.:45:46.

through the departures hall. Scores of people were injured

:45:47.:45:52.

after the ceiling caved I heard one shot fired followed by

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people shouting in Arabic, and then a huge explosion. People started

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fleeing to the lifts and escalators. About half an hour later during rush

:46:11.:46:15.

hour another explosion on the Metro in the City centre, 15 people are

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believed to have been killed. We will bring you the latest live from

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Brussels where the threat level is at maximum and people have been told

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to stay where they are. The Belgian Prime Minister has condemned what he

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called blind and cowardly attacks. This tragic and black moment in our

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country, like never before I would call on everybody to show calmness

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and solidarity. You are watching a BBC News Special

:46:39.:46:58.

as the Belgian capital Brussels has been hit by multiple bomb attacks,

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targeting the main airport At least one is thought to have

:47:02.:47:03.

been a suicide bomb. The Belgian Prime Minister Charles

:47:04.:47:08.

Michel says many people have been killed or wounded -

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at least 26 people are known He called it a black

:47:13.:47:15.

day for his nation. There were chaotic scenes

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at Brussels Zaventem airport - at least 11 people were killed

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and more than 30 injured Around an hour later,

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another blast at Maalbeek metro in the centre of the city -

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close to the European Parliament 15 people are reported to have died

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- many more are injured. People have been told to stay

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inside, the metro and rail services are closed, and all Eurostar

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trains have been halted. The Belgian capital was already

:47:45.:47:46.

on a state of high alert following the arrest of Paris terror

:47:47.:47:49.

attack suspect Salah Abdeslam At the airport they ran for their

:47:50.:48:10.

lives. Inside, what was once a departure lounge in seconds was

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transformed into a place of death. Some called friends or family,

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others just sat, struck by the horror. Two explosions tore through

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the building. Blowing out the windows, and bringing part of the

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roof down. There was a big explosion, at first we thought it

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was a billboard falling down or something. It was like within 20

:48:38.:48:43.

centimetres of me, a big explosion, the second one. I just fell away. I

:48:44.:48:52.

thought I was hurt, I thought I had been hit. There were two people

:48:53.:48:58.

working in the airport and they told me to just go inside and they locked

:48:59.:49:02.

the door. And behind a little gap I saw a soldier pulling away our body.

:49:03.:49:14.

-- a body. I hope he was not dead. On guard, the army and police

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watching over passengers evacuated from the bombed airport as the

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mayhem of the morning was detailed. There was one gunshot after the

:49:28.:49:32.

first explosion said this witness, and one man speaking Arabic

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afterwards. And I heard a boom, an enormous explosion. The attacks

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brought condemnation from the Belgian Prime Minister. Our country

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and our citizens have been struck by attacks, blind attacks, violent and

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cowardly. And our first thoughts are with the victims, with their

:49:58.:50:05.

families,... And underground, terror for morning travellers. A bomb on a

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Metro train right in the heart of the EU quarter of Brussels, left

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more than a dozen passengers dead and travellers struggling through

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smoke-filled tunnels. The bombing was just minutes from the European

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Parliament and the Commission. It came in a shower. The emergency

:50:30.:50:35.

services treated the injured by the roadside. As people staggered from

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the station. The blast was heard and felt in stations down the line. Yes,

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there was a loud muffled third. It was very audible. -- thud. There is

:50:50.:51:01.

so much construction all the time that it's hard to discern one noise

:51:02.:51:07.

from another. The soldiers who are pretty much on hand in this area

:51:08.:51:11.

these days were very quick to evacuate the building. That's when

:51:12.:51:15.

people started running from the scene. Lots of people crying. There

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was a lot of confusion. Brussels is on the highest state of alert. The

:51:21.:51:26.

military has sent reinforcements. Public transport has ceased in

:51:27.:51:31.

Europe's capital, flights suspended, the Eurostar halted. Europe, says

:51:32.:51:35.

the French Prime Minister, is at war. It is also in shock and

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mourning. We have heard already from the Belgian Prime Minister and also

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the French president and just to tell you we will hear from the

:51:48.:51:51.

British Prime Minister David Cameron within the next short while about

:51:52.:51:55.

the attacks in Brussels. One other line to bring you from the

:51:56.:51:59.

governments here, the British government's emergency Cobra

:52:00.:52:03.

committee, one Briton was injured in the attack in Brussels but no

:52:04.:52:10.

British fatalities. This is triggering security alerts across

:52:11.:52:14.

Europe but the latest we heard from Belgium about the ongoing operation

:52:15.:52:17.

is that house searches are ongoing in the area right around Brussels,

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and this is coming in from the public broadcaster RTBF. Security is

:52:25.:52:32.

tight and the entire City locked down. The first explosions went off

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at the Zaventem airport in Brussels prompting hundreds of people to

:52:37.:52:42.

flee. One witness said they ran towards the second larger blast.

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These were some of the people caught up in the evacuation this morning.

:52:46.:52:51.

You felt the explosion? Yes, I felt it and glass went over my side.

:52:52.:53:04.

We only saw some smashed windows. We did not get any information. Did you

:53:05.:53:19.

see or hear the explosion? No, but I walked through a lot of stuff, smoke

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and water dripping from the ceiling. We had to walk through puddles. And

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we were evacuated. I was just waiting for my suitcase and then

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some buddy said over the loudspeakers, this is an evacuation.

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We were just taken outside of that place. Let's go live to Brussels and

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talk to our correspondent Chris Morris. These attacks almost

:53:45.:53:49.

simultaneously targeting the airport, Metro station and the

:53:50.:53:51.

European institutions of course because one of the Metro stations

:53:52.:53:56.

was very close to many of the European buildings. Effectively, the

:53:57.:54:01.

City is on lockdown, isn't it? Yes, I have just cycled through parts of

:54:02.:54:05.

the City and some people are going about their business under heavy

:54:06.:54:09.

security everywhere. Armed police and soldiers on the streets and the

:54:10.:54:15.

area close to our office has now been blocked off, particularly

:54:16.:54:21.

because Maelbeek station is if -- is a few hundred metres away from where

:54:22.:54:25.

David Cameron and the other EU leaders were meeting for the

:54:26.:54:28.

European summit last Thursday and Friday. It was just as the summit

:54:29.:54:32.

was coming to an end that the news broke that the wanted suspect from

:54:33.:54:37.

the Paris attacks Salah Abdeslam had been captured here in Brussels. One

:54:38.:54:42.

thing that will be very disturbing to the authorities was that if this

:54:43.:54:47.

was a response to the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, how quickly the

:54:48.:54:50.

cells of people who have done this have been able to respond, it shows

:54:51.:54:55.

you how prepared they were for an attack and European security

:54:56.:54:58.

officials have been bracing themselves for weeks for the

:54:59.:55:02.

possibility or even probability of another attack somewhere. If this is

:55:03.:55:05.

to be seen as a response to the arrest I think the speed with which

:55:06.:55:09.

they were able to strike is really quite disturbing for those charged

:55:10.:55:11.

with the security in our big cities. As we

:55:12.:55:25.

speak to you we are seeing the latest pictures we are receiving

:55:26.:55:27.

from the airport in the immediate aftermath of those explosions, the

:55:28.:55:30.

air is filled with dust, you can see luggage abandoned on trolleys.

:55:31.:55:31.

Clearly reflecting the chaos that must have unfolded in the moments

:55:32.:55:36.

right after those explosions. Some people running away. You were

:55:37.:55:42.

reflecting on how difficult this must be for the authorities in the

:55:43.:55:48.

aftermath of the arrest of Abdeslam, the feeling that they got him, and

:55:49.:55:53.

now this. How can they ramp up their response even further when they were

:55:54.:55:56.

already pretty much at the highest state of alert? They have gone up

:55:57.:56:02.

from level three to level 4 in terms of the state of alert in the City.

:56:03.:56:07.

And in the wake of the Paris attacks Brussels was in virtual lockdown for

:56:08.:56:11.

several days when it went to this higher state of alert and we are

:56:12.:56:15.

back there again, security will be high. Cooperation between different

:56:16.:56:20.

European countries will be key, President Francois Hollande

:56:21.:56:22.

addressed his nation today saying we have to be calm, lucid and

:56:23.:56:28.

determined. And intelligence sharing will be one of the most important

:56:29.:56:33.

things going forward. There is intelligence in separate countries

:56:34.:56:36.

often, and one of the lessons of the Paris attacks is that that

:56:37.:56:40.

intelligence isn't always shared quickly enough. For now the focus is

:56:41.:56:44.

on ensuring that there are no other attacks in the immediate aftermath

:56:45.:56:49.

of what happened this morning. Bracing for worse news to come in

:56:50.:56:56.

terms of casualty figures. At least 26 are dead, the Prime Minister

:56:57.:56:59.

Charles Michel has talked about the possibility of scores dead and

:57:00.:57:03.

injured. And that those scenes, obviously in the Maelbeek Metro

:57:04.:57:06.

station close to hear, raising disturbing reminders for many people

:57:07.:57:10.

in the UK of what happened in the 7/7 attacks on the tube in London.

:57:11.:57:17.

People packed tightly into a Metro carriage in the heart of rush-hour

:57:18.:57:20.

and horrible reports coming from survivors and people who got out of

:57:21.:57:25.

the Maelbeek Metro of the deadline around, people injured who had lost

:57:26.:57:29.

limbs and so forth. We have to be prepared while being careful, for

:57:30.:57:35.

those casualties figures to rise. Of course there has to be greater

:57:36.:57:39.

cross-border intelligence sharing and cooperation, but Belgium also

:57:40.:57:43.

has a big domestic problem, doesn't it? How does it deal with that, the

:57:44.:57:47.

biggest number of jihadis returning from Iraq and Syria of any European

:57:48.:57:54.

nation. There must have been a support network supporting Salah

:57:55.:57:58.

Abdeslam as he was hiding after the Paris attacks. What more can it do

:57:59.:58:02.

domestically to deal with this? Well a lot of it has to be intelligence.

:58:03.:58:08.

And more security. We will have to get used to far more security at

:58:09.:58:13.

airports, you go through Brussels airport an awful lot, and you just

:58:14.:58:18.

walking like many airports, going into the terminal building without

:58:19.:58:22.

being checked. That has a huge glass frontage. If a suicide bomber cans

:58:23.:58:26.

in the walk inside that building which we believe is what happened

:58:27.:58:30.

this morning, then security is going to have to being creased. Perhaps

:58:31.:58:34.

there will have to be checks before you arrive at the airport building

:58:35.:58:38.

and it will be massively inconvenient for many travellers.

:58:39.:58:41.

When people say we should not allow the terrorists to win when they

:58:42.:58:42.

attacked like this, it will affect people's daily lives and

:58:43.:58:59.

there will have to be more security, more checks. There will have to be

:59:00.:59:01.

more intrusive intelligence methods used to try to track these people

:59:02.:59:04.

down. Those are the sorts of debates you have do have in a democratic

:59:05.:59:06.

society. What is the right balance between security and freedom and

:59:07.:59:09.

many people feel in Belgium that the balance is not right and more needs

:59:10.:59:12.

to be done to try to track down the people planning further attacks. OK,

:59:13.:59:14.

thanks for that, Chris Morris in Brussels. Bringing you more

:59:15.:59:17.

responses we have been getting from European leaders, President Lon of

:59:18.:59:21.

France said the attacks in Brussels are the manifestation of a global

:59:22.:59:25.

threat that demands a global response. He warned that the world

:59:26.:59:30.

faced what he said would be a long war against terrorism. Viewers on

:59:31.:59:36.

BBC One, in the UK, are leaving us now,

:59:37.:59:37.

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