Brussels Attacks: Zaventem Airport Remains Closed Until March 29

Brussels international airport will be closed until March 29, Belgian authorities say, following attacks in the capital that left 31 dead.

Zaventem airport was the first target on March 22, with two suicide bombers triggering explosions in the departures hall.

An hour later, 20 people died in the suicide bombing of a metro station.

On March 26, Belgian prosecutors announced that one arrested man had now been charged with terrorist offences.

ISIS has said it carried out both the Brussels attacks, and the ones in Paris, in which 130 people died in November 2015.

Brussels airport authorities said the “investigative work related to the judicial inquiry into the airport terminal has been completed” but that passenger activity could not resume before March 29.

A team of airport engineers and technicians is being given access to the terminal building for the first time since the attack.

They will assess the damage and stability of the building. The airport authorities will also install new security measures.

Zaventem airport check-in area suffered severe damage when two blasts seconds apart hit opposite ends of the departures hall.

Some people fleeing the first blast were caught by the second.

The two suicide bombers there have been identified by DNA as Najim Laachraoui and Brahim el-Bakraoui. They were pictured in an airport CCTV image before the explosions with a third man, on the right of the picture, who has yet to be identified or apprehended.

Brahim el-Bakraoui’s brother, Khalid, carried out the attack on the Maelbeek metro attack.

In Brussels, buses are running and most metro stations have reopened but there are still soldiers patrolling the streets and although people are defiant, they are aware that there are possibly still other suspects at large.

On March 26, Belgian police continued operations to search for members of the terror cell, in particular the missing man from the airport image and a man suspected of aiding the metro attack.

Twelve people were arrested on March 24 and 25 in police raids in Belgium, France and Germany.