Belgium marks first anniversary of terror attacks

Belgium has marked the first anniversary of the terror attacks that killed 32 people in Brussels with remembrance ceremonies and a new memorial.

“Many times I ask myself, ‘What if?’” said Lars Waetzmann, who lost his wife Jennifer when two young Belgian Muslims blew themselves up with suitcase bombs in the departure hall of Brussels Airport a year ago.

The couple had been about to fly to New York.

“What if we had left 10 minutes later? What if we had driven a bit slower? What if? But it happened,” he said.

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He recounted how a stranger had laid a jacket under his head and stayed by his side after the incident.

“It shows that, next to horrible things that happened that day, beautiful things can happen.”

Mr Waetzmann was speaking at a ceremony at the airport which was attended by Belgium’s king and queen, government ministers and airport and rescue staff.

Attendees at the ceremony listened to a roll call of the 16 victims who died at the airport.

Eddy Van Calster, who lost his wife Fabienne Vansteenkiste, an airport worker, sang a song he wrote for her, called Stars.

A minute of silence was held at 7.58am to mark the time when the two Islamic State supporters blew themselves up at the airport.

A bronze abstract sculpture which previously sat near the check-in desks was unveiled in a new site by the approach road to the terminal.

It still bears marks from the explosions, which were carried out by individuals linked to the Brussels-based militants who had killed 130 people in Paris four months earlier.

Just after 9am, at about the time a third bomber detonated his bag on a train, the king laid a wreath at Maelbeek metro station beside a commemorative wall covered in graffiti left by passersby in the days after the March 22nd attack.

Kristen Verellen, who lost her husband Johan Van Steen, read a poem: “March 22nd - it’s also my birthday - at first sight not a cause for celebration; and yet still love triumphs.”

Monument

A monument to all the victims of the attacks was also unveiled close to the headquarters of the EU, where staff observed a minute’s silence.

EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said the attacks “struck at the very heart of Europe” but had failed to undermine Europeans’ faith in democratic freedoms.

King Philippe, who was present at all the ceremonies, paid tribute to the families of victims, saying: “To hate and to violence, you responded with dignity.”

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel told Reuters in an interview that the Belgian state had learned lessons and made reforms in security and intelligence since the attacks.

“Belgium is on a sounder footing in security terms than it was a year ago,” he said.

“But even today I can’t say there is zero risk. We know that whatever we do, when people are ready to kill themselves and blindly destroy as many lives as possible, we cannot have perfect security.”

Reuters