Belgium airport blasts: At least 13 dead, 35 injured

At least 13 people were feared dead, with 35 others injured in Brussels airport blasts, according to reports by Belgian media. A string of explosions rocked Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday, as Belgium raised its terror threat to the maximum level.

Two explosions targeted the main hall of Zaventem Airport at around 8:00am (0700 GMT), with a third hitting the Maalbeek metro station, near the European Union’s main buildings, just as commuters were making their way to work in rush hour. More than a dozen people were lying on the pavement outside the station, being treated by emergency service for facial wounds. The blasts came days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels on Friday of Saleh Abdeslam, prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people in November, after four months on the run.

There were chaotic scenes at the airport as passengers fled in panic, with a thick plume of smoke rising from the main terminal building. The blasts smashed the windows of the departure hall and sent ceiling tiles shattering to the floor. Witnesses told Belga news agency there had been shots and shouts in Arabic at the airport before the blasts hit.

Federal police told Belga they could confirm one person had been killed in the blasts at the airport on the northwest outskirts of Brussels.