UPDATE:CNN is reporting that terrorist organization ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Belgian attacks. The story has been edited to reflect this update.
Months after the highly orchestrated attacks in Paris, a series of explosions rocked the Belgian capital of Brussels today in what’s believed to be the latest terrorist attack to hit Europe.
CNN is reporting that terrorist organization ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which come four days after Belgian police apprehended Salah Abdeslam, one of the key figures in ISIS’ Paris attacks last November. Two explosions – “probably [involving] a suicide bomber,” a Belgian prosecutor told the BBC – hit the Brussels Airport departure area around 8:00 A.M. local time (around 3:00 A.M. on America’s east coast), while a third explosion occurred across town at the Maelbeek subway station an hour later.
According to The Guardian, 14 were killed at the airport and 81 were injured, while the subway attack has killed at least 20 and injured 106. The mayor of Brussels, Yvan Mayeur, told The Guardian it was still “too early to say exactly what the number of victims will be.”
German automaker Audi has informed its third-shift employees – all 1,100 – to remain at home while the capital is locked down, Automotive News reports. A company spokesperson told AN that tomorrow’s early shift is still scheduled to report to the Brussels factory, where the sub-compact A1 is built.
One witness to the airport attack report ceiling tiles falling to the floor following the explosion, while another reported hearing a gunshot followed by shouting in Arabic. The two explosions were reportedly only 15 to 30 seconds apart.
“The metro was leaving Maelbeek station when there was a really loud explosion. It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro,” a witness told the AP. A British citizen described to The Guardian the calm response of a Maelbeek-bound train’s conductor, as he instructed his passengers to move back up the subway’s tracks to the Arts Loi station.