A Peruvian mother says goodbye to her twin 3-year-old girls at the airport. Moments later an explosion rips through the boarding area, and the 36-year-old woman is dead.
Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz had been about to catch a flight to New York on Tuesday. 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.
Ruiz is the first publicly confirmed victim of the Brussels attacks, one of at least 30 people killed. Hundreds more were wounded.
As the dust settles, more stories — of carnage and courage — are emerging.
Tales of horror…
The quietly composed atmosphere of Brussels comes as grisly details of the previous day’s horror are brought to light.
Airport baggage handler Iphonse Lyoura describes a scene from a nightmare.
“There was a woman who couldn’t talk,” he told CNN affiliate BFMTV. “There was a man who had lost his two legs. There was a police officer with a mangled leg.
“It’s horrible. Belgium doesn’t deserve this.”
The hellish scene was recounted by another survivor, Giulia Paravinci.
“The man I was talking to said he heard someone screaming something in Arabic, then [nearby] a woman’s leg exploded. Her husband, who was standing next to her, also lost a leg, and a policeman who was running toward them also lost a leg.
“One woman who was holding her baby was screaming, ‘Where’s my baby?’ because she had lost the other one.”
…And tales of survival.
Mason Wells was injured near the airport. It was his second brush with death. He also escaped the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
The 19-year-old from Utah reportedly was traveling with fellow Mormon missionaries Richard Norby, 66, and Joseph Empey, 20.
United in grief
Hours after two explosions ripped through Brussels’ airport and a third in its subway system, hundreds of the city’s residents began to converge on the Place de la Bourse.
They came armed — with candles, Belgian flags and sleeping bags — to keep watch over a glowing shrine through the night.
As daylight rose over the Place de la Bourse, mourners continued their show of solidarity, forming an impromptu human chain around the ever-growing tribute.
Later, the crowd observed a minute of silence, while the nation itself marks three days of mourning for victims of the attack.
A ghost city
In the few metro stations reopened Wednesday morning, there was an eerie sense of calm. Train platforms remained largely empty save for a smattering of soldiers.
“Like walking through a ghost town,” is how 28-year-old Apelonia described the city.
Even as she rode the near-empty metro into central Brussels, Apelonia said she imagined “the train exploding and it being the end of me.”
On the trains, and in the streets, Brussels appears to be a city shaken, yet defiant.
“We know these things happen, but we must go on,” said 20-year-old Sara, who was taking the train to her school in the west of the city.
Lynn, who works at a communications firm, passed by Maelbeek station just 30 minutes before the explosion there Tuesday.
“It’s tough, but we knew it would happen,” Lynn said, while taking the replacement bus to her job.
“We have to go on. We can’t stay home. We have to hope security can protect us.”
Life in lockdown
The subway station, where at least 20 people were killed, remains closed. Likewise the cafes and shops in surrounding streets.
Military personnel, wrapped in scarves in the early morning chill and carrying machine guns, stand guard in this area where so many European Union institutions are based.
Along with the stepped-up police presence, partly suspended transport and the unsettling quiet in the streets, there are other telltale signs that this is a changed city, with even the public bins bolted shut.
