BREAKING NEWS: At least 13 dead after 'suicide bombers' hit American Airlines check-in desk at Brussels Airport - as ten people die in SECOND attack at Metro station near EU headquarters
- Shouts 'in Arabic' heard before two explosions went off near the American Airlines check-in desk at 8am (7am GMT)
- Terrified passengers covered in blood ran for their lives after explosion sent 'shockwaves' through terminal building
- Reports of another explosion at a Metro station near the EU headquarters in the Maelbeek area of central Brussels
- Evacuated passengers are being ferried onto buses and are being driven to a 'crisis centre' away from the airport
- Comes a day after Belgium minister warned of revenge attacks after arrest of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam
At least 13 people have died and up to 50 injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in a suspected suicide bombing.
Witnesses
described seeing 'dismembered bodies everywhere' after the blasts hit
the American Airlines check-in desk at around 8am (7am GMT).
There were reports that shouts in Arabic were heard before the explosions and shots fired in the aftermath.
Around
90 minutes later, ten were killed when an explosion hit a Metro station
near the EU headquarters in the city centre in another suspected terror
attack.
Photographs
from inside the arrivals hall showed the floor was covered in fallen
roof tiles and dust as bloodied people hobbled out of the airport.
Others injured were photographed lying on the floor.
Video shows terrified passengers running for their lives out of the terminal.
The
explosions come just a day after the Belgium Interior Minister warned
of possible revenge attacks after the arrest of Paris massacre suspect
Salah Abdeslam in the city last week.
Scroll down for video
Carnage: At least eleven people have
died and several injured after two explosions rocked Brussels Airport in
a suspected terror attack
A soldier walks through debris after two explosion rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport
Two explosions have been heard at Brussels Airport
Injured passengers are covered in blood and dust after the explosions in the terminal building
A man lies injured on the floor after two explosions rocked the the American Airlines check-in desk
Hundreds of
terrified passengers ran from the terminal, some of them covered in
blood (left), after the blasts rocked the building at 8am
In
the aftermath of the explosions at the airport, thousands of people
waiting for flights this morning were penned inside the terminal as
police sealed off the shattered arrivals hall.
Fire fighters who entered the shattered building are said to have found a third unexploded device.
People
already checked-in were then slowly evacuated through emergency exits –
but were told to leave all their hand luggage as police checked bags
for more explosives.
Evacuated
air passengers are being ferried onto buses and are being driven to a
'crisis centre' away from the airport. Women and children are being
moved first.
Pauline Deglume tweeted: 'My godfather is located at the airport and said he saw dismembered bodies everywhere.'
Dries Valaert, 30, was waiting to get his boarding pass from a check in desk when the blast struck.
He
told MailOnline: 'There was a first blast and then ten seconds later a
second explosion. It was a big big blast, the ceiling went down. It was
just 30 metres from where I was.
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'I saw
people down on the ground and I just went running. I jumped over the
security fences towards the departure gates as I thought it would be
safer.
My
first intuition was to get out in case their were attackers with guns. I
saw a woman around 18 years old with a hole in her hand with blood
pouring out and a man with an injured ankle and two people down. There
was lots of panic. People were running all over the place.'
Mr
Valaert, who was flying to a business meeting in Berlin, said he
believed the bombs were hidden in suitcases that had just been checked
in.
He
said: 'The explosions were just behind the service desks, they were
blown towards us. To me it is the most realistic possibility. I don't
think it was someone with a suicide vest.'
Armed police in protective clothing combed the building for more wounded travellers and suspicious bags.
All flights are being diverted from the airport this morning as it remains on lockdown.
Second attack: Around 90 minutes after
the airport blasts, there were reports of an explosion at a station
(pictured) in the centre of the city
The injured are treated by paramedics as firefighters prepare to enter the Metro station
Second attack: A person lies injured on the floor after a explosion was heard at the Metro station in the centre of Brussels
Flights
due to land at Brussels-Zaventem, which handles 21million passengers a
year, were sent to Antwerp, Liege, and Brussels Charleroi airports.
Europe's
biggest airports are all increasing their security today. Heathrow
confirmed it had stepped up its own 'visible' security in the wake of
the attacks – with large units of armed police patrolling the airport
this morning.
The
Belgian Interior Minister has raised the country's security level to
'maximum' this morning as it prepares itself for more terror attacks in
the wake of the airport bombings.
British
Prime Minister David Cameron offered his support to victims of the
blasts and called a COBRA emergency committee to address the events in
Brussels.
He tweeted: 'I am shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels. We will do everything we can to help.
'I will be chairing a COBRA meeting on the events in Brussels later this morning.'
The
incident came as the Belgian capital was on a state of high alert
following the arrest of Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam in
the city last week.
Belgium's
Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, said the country was on high alert for a
possible revenge attack following the capture of 26-year-old Salah
Abdeslam in a flat in Brussels on Friday.
'We know that stopping one cell can... push others into action. We are aware of it in this case,' he told public radio.
Video shows terrified passengers running for their lives out of the terminal
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