BRUSSELS: Overcoming from the shock of one of the worst terror attacks in Europe, Indian passengers were flown from Brussels into Mumbai and Delhi as they left the nightmare behind them. Jet Airways flew 423 stranded passengers to Delhi, Mumbai and Toronto, with most of them having to leave their baggage behind.
Recalling the near-death experience, Venkat Narayan, whose flight from Mumbai had landed in Brussels just in time of the first blast, said, “I was looking for breakfast when I heard a mild boom.” A Francis D'souza said, “Before I could understand, airport loudspeakers blared 'Evacuate, Evacuate'. I grabbed my phone and ran. It was a stampede.” Also a part of the 242 passengers and 28 crew members who arrived in Delhi, Satnam Singh said all had lost hope of returning home alive and had no clue whom to approach. In a harrowing incident that epitomised the fragility of human lives, Infosys employee Raghavendran Ganeshan, who had gone missing in the attack on the metro, has been confirmed dead. Manjeev Singh Puri, India's Ambassador to Belgium addressed the press giving his statement. Belgian authorities confirmed Ganeshan was among the dead, using finger print analysis and DNA test taken from Ganeshan's brother, who had arrived shortly after his brother's whereabouts remained unsolved.
His family had taken possession of Ganeshan's remains and are being escorted by the police to the Belgian border, after which, they will go to Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam, from where they will fly to Chennai. Infosys in a condolence message to the media said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Raghavendran’s family and with those who were injured or lost a loved one in these attacks.” Meanwhile, Nidhi Chaphekar, who became one of the iconic images of the blasts may take eight to 10 days more to begin recovery. An official from the Embassy said, “She is on anaesthesia and is in the ICU. The doctors are treating one problem at a time. Only her husband is allowed to see her.”
Post the attacks, a security footage seen after the blasts put three men under suspicion for the suicide attacks. While two of them blew themselves at the airport, the third one who remains at large, is believed to be a known Paris attacks suspect. Belgian media named the suicide bombers as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui and the third man as Najim Laachraoui. Meanwhile, it is claimed that the Paris terrorist attacks ringleader and a Brussels bombing suspect both visited Birmingham last year.
Brussels airport attackers identified
The two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport were brothers known to the police and a third attacker, who is at large, is a known Paris attacks suspect, Belgian media said. The suicide bombers were named as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui and the third man as Najim Laachraoui.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment, but said they would provide information later. Laachraoui's DNA had been found in houses used by the Paris attackers last year, prosecutors said, adding that he had travelled to Hungary in September with Paris attacks prime suspect Salah Abdeslam.
Captured on a security camera photograph at Brussels Airport beside the El Bakraoui brothers, Laachraoui did not detonate a bomb and is still at large. A bomb was subsequently destroyed in a controlled explosion. Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, had rented under a false name the flat in the Forest borough of the Belgian capital where police killed a gunman in a raid last week, RTBF said. Belgian newspaper DH said the Bakraoui brothers may have fled the flat in Forest after last week's shootout.
In the raid, investigators found an Islamic State flag, an assault rifle, detonators and a fingerprint of Abdeslam, who was arrested three days later. Both brothers have criminal records, but have not been linked by the police to Islamist militants until now, RTBF said. Brahim El Bakraoui, 30, was convicted in October 2010 for firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at police and wounding an officer after a robbery in Brussels earlier that year. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
A prime suspect in Brussels bombings, Najim Laachraoui, was arrested in the city's Anderlecht district, several Belgian media said. Police and prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Labour MP seeks more information
Labour Party MP Steve McCabe called for more information from Theresa May after reports of Islamic State commander Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Belgian fugitive Mohamed Abrini had travelled to Birmingham surfaced. French intelligence sources also say Abrini visited the place four months before involving himself in the planning of the Brussels attacks. McCabe said, “We need a more explicit explanation of what the risk is in the West Midlands, what the connections are between people who are being watched and people who are known terrorists. At the very least the government and police should be offering MPs and the representatives of the people of Birmingham, is a private security briefing that is a bit more explicit than the titbits they are feeding folk at the moment.”
