(Newswire.net — March 24, 2016) — Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombings and authorities have identified the attackers, Fox News reported. Belgian federal prosecutor confirms that the bombing at Maalbeek metro station was committed by a man named Khalid El Bakraoui. One of the others suspects, Najim Laachraoui, is still at large although some reports claim that he may have been a suicide bomber killed in the blast.
According to Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur, 20 people have died and more than 100 were wounded in the subway blast. Some victims have lost limbs, while others have suffered burns and deep lacerations from shattered glass or nails packed in the explosives.
The attack in Brussels took 31 lives, though this number could still rise as some of the wounded are in critical condition. Among the more seriously injured are several children, Mayeur said.
Mormon Church officials said that four missionaries from Utah were wounded during the attacks at the airport, three of whom were seriously injured and hospitalized, Russia Today reported. However, none of their injuries are life-threatening, the report says.
A tweet from KSL 5 TV reporter Shara Park of Utah cited an LDS Bishop who claims that missioner Elder Wells, who was wounded at Brussels airport, was just one block from the Boston marathon bombing in 2013 and left Paris just hours before the terrorist attack in November 2015.
A lieutenant colonel with the US Air Force and his wife and four children were also among the Americans wounded in Tuesday’s attacks, US officials told the Associated Press. Reportedly, European Command officials would not release details due to privacy matters, the report says, although a defense official told Fox News that some of the injuries were critical.
Professional basketball player and former member of the Marist College and Oakland University teams, Sebastien Bellin, is also among those seriously injured in the attacks.
Officials of many countries have expressed their deepest sympathies with the Belgian people. In the US, President Barack Obama ordered that all American flags be flown at half-staff through Saturday out of respect for the victims.