A mother of twins, a law student and a government worker were among the 31 people killed in Tuesday’s blasts at a Brussels airport and train station.
The explosions wounded at least 270 people and left several more missing.
The victims span 40 nationalities. Here is what we know of some of the victims:
Deceased
Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz
A Peruvian mother said goodbye to her twin 3-year-old girls at the airport. Moments later, an explosion ripped through the ticketing area, killing the 36-year-old woman.
Ruiz was about to catch a flight to New York. The plan was to meet up with her husband and young daughters a few days later for Easter.
But as Ruiz’s young family stepped away from the departure area, she walked into the path of suicide bombers.
Leopold Hecht
The Belgian law student died in the attack, his school, Universite Saint-Louis Bruxelles, said in a statement.
Olivier Delespesse
Delespesse was killed in the metro explosion, said his employer, La Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles, a government ministry serving Francophone Brussels and Wallonia.
“I wanted to pay tribute to him and to his family and to all the other victims,” said colleague Olivier Dradin in a Facebook tribute.
Missing
Stephanie and Justin Shults
The Tennessee couple, who have lived in Belgium since 2014, were dropping off Stephanie’s mother, Carolyn Moore, at the airport. Moore, who was just about to walk through security, was knocked over by an explosion and is having trouble hearing in one ear.
As of Tuesday night, their families had not heard from the couple and were still awaiting news. Moore is still in Brussels and has been in touch with family in the United States.
Justin Shults’ brother, Levi Sutton of Kentucky, said he woke up on the day of the attacks to texts from his mother. She was asking him to call her.
“It’s the longest day of my life. It’s just frustrating not knowing. Not knowing is maddening,” Sutton said Tuesday.
Stephanie and Justin were both working in Brussels, and are expected to move back to the United States in 2017.
On Wednesday, there was hope that the couple had been found, but Sutton posted a tweet saying the family had been misinformed as to Stephanie’s and Justin’s status.
Sabrina Esmael Fazal
Jonathan Selemani, 25, has been scouring the city’s hospitals looking for his partner and mother of their 1-year-old child.
Fazal, 24, went missing after taking the metro to her university in the city.
“I saw her in the morning, before she went to school, before she was leaving for class,” said Selemani. “Then when I learned the news I immediately started looking for her. I haven’t found her.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to explain it to my son.”
Bart Migom
The 21-year-old was on his way to Athens, Georgia, but never arrived, his girlfriend, Emily Eisenman, said.
“Last time I heard from him was yesterday. He was texting me from the train on his way to the airport in Brussels. He was supposed to send me a picture of his boarding pass when he got there, but he never did,” Eisenman, 21, said. “I checked and saw that his train got to the airport at 7:30 a.m. and his flight was supposed to take off at 10:30 a.m., but I don’t think he ever made it. I have not heard from him and either has his family, who I’ve been in contact with all day.”
When Emily calls Migom’s cell phone it just rings. There is no answer, and no return messages, she said.
“This is not like him. He is a good communicator,” she said.
Emily and Migom have known each other since they met on a health-and-fitness retreat in the United States last year. He is her brother’s friend.
“We have been dating since October 29, 2015, and Bart was coming to see me. I’ve never been to Belgium, but he had been here before,” Eisenman said.
Migom is a marketing student at Howest University in Bruges, Belgium. He lives with his mother, two brothers and sister, she said.
Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski
The siblings who have spent much of their time in New York are missing, according to the father of Alexander’s fiancee.
Jim Cain, a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, told CNN that the Pinczowskis were in the Delta ticket line at the airport to board a flight to JFK. Alexander Pinczowski was talking to his mother on the phone when the line dropped. The families haven’t heard anything since.
Cain said some U.S. Embassy sources told him there are patients in hospitals that officials haven’t discovered their names.
“Apparently they’re having a tough time for matching up people with identities,” he said.
Marymount Manhattan College issued a statement, saying, “Our hearts go out to Sascha and Alexander’s family and friends during this difficult time, and we fervently hope for the siblings’ safe return home.”
Shai Tertner, founder of Shiraz Events in New York, which formerly employed Alexander Pinczowski and where Sascha was an intern in August, said his family was sad to hear his ex-employee and his sister were missing after the blasts.
“Sascha is a bright, hardworking young woman, with a great career ahead of her and we all hope Sascha and her brother are found alive and well, and send all the love and support to their family and the other families that were affected by this terrible attack,” the statement said.
Both siblings live in the Netherlands, Cain said, adding that he was on his way to Belgium to support the family.