'I said run, run!': Eyewitness describes fleeing Brussels airport bombing
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
In an interview with BBC News, Tom De Doncker, a 21-year-old check-in agent intern at the Brussels airport who safely fled the scene, describes the chaos after the first explosion hit the Brussels airport Tuesday morning. "First we thought it was a billboard coming down and my colleague was looking wondering what it was and I said 'run, run!'"
De Doncker said they ran away from the explosion, his colleague jumped behind a check-in desk, hiding in the luggage carousel, while he ran ahead until the second explosion stopped him in his tracks. "It was like 20 centimeters in front of me there was a big explosion," he said. He was knocked to the ground. "I thought I was hurt, I was hit." De Doncker was able to get to a nearby office where other airport employees were taking refuge. From inside he said he watched from the crack of the door as a soldier pulled someone, wounded or dead, from the scene. "I hope he was not dead, just hit," he said. De Doncker was eventually evacuated to another terminal and then taken outside to safety.
As many as 26 people are dead and many more injured after three terrorist explosions rocked transportation hubs in Brussels Tuesday, including the Zaventem airport and a metro station.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
