--- description: "We felt like a wave, you feel it in your whole body, it is like you are in water" title: Brussels Attacks: Eyewitness Accounts From Zaventem Airport image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte47387dd57a55acd/69888bf85f570fdcc7b20259/scenes-from-brussels-attacks-airport-windows.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Eyewitness Accounts From Inside Brussels Airport by [Charlotte McDonald-Gibson](/author/charlotte-mcdonald-gibson/) ## Charlotte McDonald-Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:50 PM CUTPublished: Mar 22, 2016 12:19 PM CUT  Destroyed windows at the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016\. A double explosion in the departure hall of Zaventem Airport in Brussels has left at least 13 dead and 35 wounded, sources at the General Attorney's Office of Belgium said. Hours later, blasts also rocked Shuman and Maelbeek metro stations near European Union buildings, the number of victims which remains unknown, prompting a shutdown of the metro system as authorities raised the city terror alert to the maximum level. Destroyed windows at the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016\. A double explosion in the departure hall of Zaventem Airport in Brussels has left at least 13 dead and 35 wounded, sources at the General Attorney's Office of Belgium said. Hours later, blasts also rocked Shuman and Maelbeek metro stations near European Union buildings, the number of victims which remains unknown, prompting a shutdown of the metro system as authorities raised the city terror alert to the maximum level.Laurent Dubrule—EPA by [Charlotte McDonald-Gibson](/author/charlotte-mcdonald-gibson/) ## Charlotte McDonald-Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:50 PM CUTPublished: Mar 22, 2016 12:19 PM CUT Brussels came under attack Tuesday morning with [apparent suicide bombs in its airport and a metro station](http://time.com/4267343/brussels-attacks-isis-analysis/ "undefined") during rush hour, killing at least 31 people, according to early reports. TIME correspondent Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, who is based in Brussels, was in the airport when the attacks occurred. The following are her account of what happened and interviews with passengers near her: _I was waiting for the gate to open for my flight to Frankfurt when a member of the restaurant staff rushed over and said “everyone out, everyone out”. No one knew what was going on. We were hurried to the main gate area of the terminal. An announcement on the loudspeaker said “evacuate, evacuate, this is a general notice to evacuate the airport.” But no one did anything. There were no staff to tell anyone what to do. I overheard one staff member say “this has never happened before so we don’t know what to do.”_ _Then another announcement came over loudspeakers telling us to stay in Terminal A. We were locked in. About 30 minutes later they started the evacuation again, slowly down two staircases. It took about 45 minutes to get everyone out. We were taken to the cargo area where we waited for an hour. Some people were wrapped in airline blankets. DHL staff were handing out water. There was no information about what was going on. Babies were crying. Now we have been taken to a massive airline hanger to give our details._ Read more: [What We Know About the Brussels Terrorist Attacks](http://time.com/4267339/brussels-terrorist-attacks-latest/ "undefined") **Denise Brandt, from Arizona:** _“We were in the departures lounge shopping area when we felt it and heard it. We were standing there, you feel it in your whole body. I was like ‘thats a bomb, lets go’. People were running, we were just standing there and I said ‘lets go!’._ _We saw people running, and some people crying, so we knew it was a bomb. We found a quiet corner to go reflect in. It was very confusing, they don’t manage expectations very well._ _Don’t they rehearse these things? Don’t they plan for these things?_ _We were in Terminal B then we heard later when we were walking up to the Brussels Airlines counter where there was a second explosion. We only heard one_ _“_ ### Scenes From the Aftermath of the Brussels Attacks  In this photo provided by Georgian Public Broadcaster and photographed by Ketevan Kardava, two women are wounded in Brussels Airport in Belgium after explosions were heard on March 22, 2016. Ketevan Kardava—Georgian Public Broadcaster/AP  An injured man lies at the scene of explosions at Zaventem airport near Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016. Ketevan Kardava—Georgian Public Broadcaster/Reuters  A soldier is seen at Zaventem Airport after a blast occurred in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2016. Jef Versele—Handout/Reuters  This image provided by the Belgian Federal Police in Brussels on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 shows men who are suspected of taking part in the attacks at Belgium's Zaventem Airport. The man at right is still being sought by the police and two others in the photo that the police issued were according to a the Belgian Prosecutors 'probably' suicide bombers. Belgian Federal Police/AP  Passengers and airport staff are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016. Laurent Dubrule—EPA  A victim receives first aid by rescuers, on March 22, 2016, near Maelbeek metro station in Brussels, after a blast at this station near the E.U. institutions caused deaths and injuries Emmanuel Dunand—AFP/Getty Images  People react outside Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016. Geert Vanden Wijngaert—AP  A private security guard helps a wounded women outside the Maalbeek metro station after a blast at this station located near the EU institutions, in Brussels on March 21, 2016. Michael Villa—AFP/Getty Images  Passengers are evacuated to safe zone at the Maelbeek railway station in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2016. Han Shuang—Xinhua/Alamy Live News. **Andrew Brandt, from Arizona:** _“We felt like a wave, you feel it in your whole body, it is like you are in water and someone jumps in the water and you feel that wave. I’m former law enforcement, my wife_ _lived in Afghanistan for years. We wanted to be away from the crowds. The airport staff have no idea what they are doing. They kept saying ‘evacuate’. We were telling airport agents what we felt, that it was an explosion, then they were like ‘what?’._ _Then we heard ‘evacuate, evacuate’. Then they say ‘stay where you are’. Then “evacuate, evacuate”. But everyone is just standing around. They would not let me take my bag. They said you are not going on the tarmac with your bag. The security people had no idea what they were doing. Where the hell were we supposed to go?._“ **Josh Balser, from U.S.:** _“In Terminal B this guy came running down the hall. I was in the lounge and heard a rumbling so thought something had hit the airport. Then they told us to go to the end of the hallway and eventually some guy was screaming ‘we found guns and ammunition, everybody leave your bags and exit the airport.’ He was airport personnel.”_ **Colonel Chuck Helms, U.S. military.** _“I’m U.S. military, I’m a medic, I was in 9/11\. I was here en route to Kampala. So I embedded with a Belgian medic and we gave first aid to about 15 people. I was in Terminal T when the bomb went off. We moved here (outside the terminal). I saw the Belgian medic and because I’m a medic I said “can I assist” and he said “come with me”. We moved in to where the bombing area was and we were able to provide trauma and then we went outside and provided first aid here._ _There was a lot of people trying to help, you had the police, you had the military, but there was glass everywhere, so most of the military had glass in their hands, they didn’t realise that they had injuries because they were trying to assist people. There were a lot of tourniquets, a lot of people had put on tourniquets. I didn’t see anyone I thought was a complete casualty, I didn’t see any deaths.”_ **Yassine Amrani, a homeless person who lives in the airport parking area:** _“I was with my friends – boom, in one second, all the people were running away. I went inside and I saw everywhere dead people and fire. There were fire extinguishers and I was looking for people because the ceiling had fallen on the people and you had to search for the people. There were many deaths. People were dying in my arms. One woman had a baby in her arms and kept saying “my baby, my baby”. I said “you have your baby in your arms and he is fine.”_ These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4267378/brussels-airport-zaventem-eyewitness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4267378/brussels-airport-zaventem-eyewitness/"},"headline":"Eyewitness Accounts From Inside Brussels Airport","datePublished":"2016-03-22T12:19:43.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T15:50:06.000Z","description":"\"We felt like a wave, you feel it in your whole body, it is like you are in water\"","url":"https://time.com/4267378/brussels-airport-zaventem-eyewitness/","keywords":["Belgium"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte47387dd57a55acd/69888bf85f570fdcc7b20259/scenes-from-brussels-attacks-airport-windows.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte McDonald-Gibson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-mcdonald-gibson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte47387dd57a55acd/69888bf85f570fdcc7b20259/scenes-from-brussels-attacks-airport-windows.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Explosions at Brussels Airport","caption":"Explosions at Brussels Airport","creditText":"Laurent Dubrule—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4267378/brussels-airport-zaventem-eyewitness/","name":"Eyewitness Accounts From Inside Brussels Airport"}}]}] ```