'There was blood everywhere': Witnesses tell of panic after deadly explosions hit Brussels

Witnesses told how panic gripped Brussels as a series of explosions rocked the Belgian capital this morning.

Up to 23 people were killed in three blasts at Brussels airport and Maalbeek Metro station.

Two explosions hit the departure hall of Zaventem airport at about 7am GMT in a suspected suicide bombing thought to have left 13 people dead.

Around an hour later, a further explosion hit Maalbeek Metro station, killing up to 10 people.

Armed police near Brussels Airport after the blasts
Anthony Barrett/PA Wire

It came four days after Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam was seized by police in Brussels.

Witness told of chaotic scenes in the city after the blasts, which prompted Belgian authorities to raise the terror threat level to the maximum possible.

Jef Versele, 40, from Ghent, Belgium, was at the airport when he heard the two explosions.

“I was on my way to check in and two bombs went off, two explosions,” he said.

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“Everything was coming down. Glassware. It was chaos, it was unbelievable. It was the worst thing.”

He added: “People were running away, there were lots of people on the ground. A lot of people are injured.”

Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the first blast, said the second, louder explosion brought down ceilings and ruptured pipes, mixing water with victims’ blood.

“It was atrocious. The ceilings collapsed,” he said. “There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere.”

“We were walking in the debris. It was a war scene,” he said.

Londoner Anthony Barrett watched the chaos unfold from his hotel room opposite the airport. After hearing two loud explosions he told how police were evacuating the airport in the minutes after.

“From my hotel room I can see one person lying on the ground,” he tweeted. “Fire engines and more ambulances arriving. I can see someone being rushed away on a stretcher.”

He added: “Multiple casualties. Some being taken to ambulances on luggage trolleys. I have now seen 22 stretchered casualties.”

Broken windows seen at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels
Reuters / Francois Lenoir

Mr Barrett, who works for the Wales audit office told how armed police and soldiers were taking cover behind parked cars.

He wrote: “May have a suspect cornered. Hotel being used as an evacuation and casualty centre. Currently using bomb dogs to sweep the hotel.”

Denise Brandt, an American woman, said: “I felt the explosion, the way it feels through your

“There was just this instinct to get away from it. Then we saw people running, crying, toward us. So I knew we were going in the right direction and away from it.”

An injured woman sits on a chair at Brussels airport in the aftermath of a suicide attack

Belgian media reported that Arabic could be heard being shouted as shots were fired immediately before the explosions in the airport.

Images posted online showed debris strewn across the airport building as people ran for safety as the drama unfolded.

The attacks have prompted security to be stepped up at British transport hubs including Gatwick Airport.

Prime Minister David Cameron was due to chair a Cobra emergency response meeting this morning.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office updated its travel advice for Brussels, issuing a statement which read: "You should stay away from crowded places and avoid public transport at this time."

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