Multiple deaths reported after explosions at Brussels Airport and subway during rush hour

Belgian authorities are working to lock down Brussels this morning after terrorist attacks at an airport and a subway station Tuesday morning that killed several people.

“We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said at a news conference.

Officials said 34 people were killed in the attacks, with 14 at Maelbeek subway station and 20 in two explosions at Brussels Airport. At least 198 people were injured as well.

A spokeswoman for Brussels airport told the AP a third bomb was found at the airport and was disposed of safely by a police bomb unit after the building was evacuated.

Witnesses told the AP at least two explosions went off in the airport’s departure hall around 8 a.m. local time, with one of them bringing down portions of the ceiling on passengers.

“There was blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere,” Zach Mouzoun told the AP.

Passengers were led out onto the airport’s tarmac as law enforcement worked to clear the building and help the injured. Police urged the public not to come to the airport for the time being and more than 200 incoming flights were diverted to other destinations.

About an hour later, another explosion went off at the Maelbeek subway station about seven miles away in downtown Brussels, blocks away from the headquarters of the European Union. Witnesses there told the AP that the explosion happened just as a train was leaving the station.

The attacks come a few days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in terrorist attacks on Paris that killed at least 130 people last November. An Islamic State-affiliated news agency claimed the organization was behind the attacks, saying they were carried out by Islamic State fighters wearing explosive belts.

Both Russia and the United Kingdom announced they would be increasing security at their airports in the aftermath of the attacks, while French President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency meeting with his cabinet.