(Reuters) — Britain lowered the British and Belgian flags above the government offices of Downing Street on Tuesday (March 22) after suicide bomb attacks in Brussels killed at least 30 people.
ISIS claimed responsibility for suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, with police hunting a suspect who fled the air terminal.
Officials said 20 died on the metro train close to European Union institutions, and ISIS said that too was a suicide attack.
The coordinated assault triggered security alerts across Europe and drew global expressions of support, four days after Brussels police had captured the prime surviving suspect in ISIS attacks on Paris last November.
In Manchester, commuters said they wouldn’t begin to live their lives in fear because of the attacks.
“Well there’s a lot going on isn’t there, especially with what happened in Brussels, but you see police here and it’s quite alright… No you worry about it but you’ve just got to get on with your life,” said one commuter.
Another said it’s become all too familiar and a risk that is accounted for as part of everyday life.
“Well I think it’s something we have to put up with isn’t it. Nobody wants it but this is the world the way it is today,” he said.
In a statement, ISIS said “caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns” had targeted the airport and metro station, adding that they had set off their vests amidst the crowds.
A bomb and an Islamic State flag were also found on Tuesday in a flat in Brussels.
