
One of the Brussels bombers was arrested in Turkey and deported back to Belgium in June with a warning that he was a militant, it has sensationally been revealed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at Brussels Airport on Tuesday, was arrested in Gaziantep in southern Turkey close to the Syrian border last summer. Officials said he was deported to Holland before being passed back over to Belgium.

The president said Belgian authorities had failed to confirm the suspect's links to terrorism 'despite our warnings that he was a foreign fighter'.

The revelation came as it was dramatically revealed last night that the identity of the 'Man in White', who was previously thought to be explosives expert Najim Laachraoui, remains a mystery. He is now Europe's most wanted man and a major international manhunt to find him remains ongoing.

It emerged as it was revealed that Laachraoui was actually the other airport suicide bomber, who was pictured on the left-hand side on CCTV footage showing the three ISIS suspects wheeling their suitcases into the terminal prior to the deadly bombing which occurred at 8am local time on Tuesday.

Ibrahim and Laachraoui killed 14 people and injured dozens of others when they set off suicide vests and explosives-packed suitcases at the airport. They were accompanied by the 'Man in White' who abandoned his suicide mission and fled the terminal when his nail-shrouded bomb failed to explode.

Just 79 minutes later, Ibrahim's brother - Khalid El Bakraoui - detonated his suicide vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station killing 20 people.

Earlier yesterday, it emerged that Ibrahim left a suicide note telling how he was desperate to blow himself up because he did not want to go to prison like his friend, the Paris logistics chief Salah Abdeslam.

The typed note, found next to 15kg of homemade explosives, an AK-47 and an ISIS flag during a raid at a property in the Schaerbeek area of the city, said: 'I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell.'

The latest twist came after it was revealed the Belgian El Bakraoui brothers escaped police in a gunfight during an anti-terror raid just eight days ago.

Carnage: There were scenes of devastation at the main terminal at Brussels national airport yesterday as rescue workers and officials continued to pick through the rubble following the two bomb blasts on Tuesday morning which killed 14 people and injured scores more

Devastating: Workers continued to pick through the debris at Brussels airport yesterday as the windows of the terminal remained heavily shattered from the twin attacks on the Belgian capital which has rocked Europe. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the horrific bombings

Brussels bombers: Khalid El Bakraoui (left) detonated his suicide vest on a Brussels Metro train at Maelbeek station just 79 minutes after his brother Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) blew himself up with an explosives-packed suitcase at Brussels airport. Ibrahim was accompanied by another suicide bomber, who was dramatically identified last night as explosives expert and bombmaker Najim Laachraou (right)

First picture: Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) and explosives expert Najim Laachraou (left), both wearing black gloves to hide their suicide bomb triggers, killed 14 at Brussels airport. Their accomplice - the 'Man in White' (right) fled the airport and remains on the run

Web of terror: MailOnline can reveal how an ISIS terror network from across Brussels first took murder to the streets of Paris killing 130 before members of the cell who survived returned to the Belgian capital. In the past week, as police closed in, some members including Salah Abdeslam were either arrested or killed before the team of four bombers launched twin attacks, killing 34

Laachraoui - now revealed as the second airport suicide bomber - was already one of the world's most wanted men, having built the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks and went on the run with Salah Abdeslam, one of the other Paris massacre masterminds, before hiding in Brussels for four months.

He is suspected of rigging up the suicide vests that helped kill 34 in twin attacks on Tuesday and is believed to have done the same for the Paris attacks.

Yesterday it emerged there could have been another suitcase bomb set off in the airport but the ISIS fanatics couldn't fit all their explosive-packed bags into a taxi outside their safehouse. They refused to let the driver touch the bags - prompting him to later contact the police about their suspicious behaviour.

Investigators are now desperate to track down the 'Man in White' - the third ISIS suspect pictured at the airport - as well as Mohamed Abrini, who was thought to be a close friend of the 'Man in White' and Abdeslam, for his possible involvement in the mass slaughter in the Belgium capital on Tuesday.

The British Defence Secretary said last night that it is’ ‘far too early’ to criticise the Belgian intelligence agencies over alleged failings in the run-up to the Brussels attacks, as he warned ISIS extremists wanted to ‘create mayhem’ in European cities including London.

Michael Fallon said ISIS's ‘external attack-planning operation’ was one of the reasons why it was important to strike at the militant group in Iraq and Syria. He insisted that the UK was prepared for a terror attack, with thousands of troops on stand-by to assist the police in the event of an assault.

And he told BBC2's Newsnight: ‘I honestly think it is far too early to start criticising the Belgian authorities until the investigation is complete, until we know exactly the movements of these particular people.'

Tuesday's twin terror attacks on the Belgian capital left at least 34 people dead and are believed to have been revenge for Saleh Abdeslam's capture. Experts believe the jihadists launched the Brussels attacks because the net was closing in on their terror cell.

Belgium's prosecutor said this afternoon that Ibrahim El Bakraoui's suicide note, found in a bin, said he was 'on the run' and did not 'know what to do' - but added he was 'in a hurry' and 'didn't want to end up in a cell like him' - a reference to his friend Abdeslam.

All of the men named as bombers yesterday were 'well known' to detectives because of their links to ISIS and all had significant criminal records. The El Bakraoui brothers had been in jail recently for gun smuggling, burglary and car crime.

Most recently they had been on the run since March 15 following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital's Forest suburb. They opened fire on police and fled.

The raid carried out last Tuesday on a flat in the suburb of Forest saw a sniper kill terror suspect Mohamed Belkaid while the El Bakraoui brothers managed to escape police.

There was initial speculation that the raid had aimed to capture Paris-terrorist Abdeslam, but he escaped through a loft window, but this was later denied by a police spokesman.

New raid: Special forces stormed a pizzeria in Anderlecht at just after dawn yesterday - with some Belgian media wrongly claiming Najim Laachraoui was inside. Forensics officers took away evidence in brown bags after a man and two women were taken into custody

Collecting evidence: Forensic police leave a house in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels, while others carry evidence found during a raid

Anti-terror raid: Police stormed a property in the district of Anderlecht-Brussels and were seen collecting bags of possible evidence

Aftermath: Emergency service workers were continuing their efforts at Brussels airport yesterday as the city entered three days of mourning

In memory: King Philippe of Belgium (centre) lays a wreath as he visits the damaged departure hall at Brussels Airport in Zaventem

Gathering evidence and clues: Forensic researchers pictured at work outside Brussels Airport as efforts continue to solve the terror effort

Rubble and debris: Security officials, engineers and emergency service workers were all hard at work at Brussels airport this afternoon

Shattered to a million pieces: The terminal windows at Brussels airport were all blown out yesterday following the terror attack

Officers had been acting on a tip-off in connection to the Paris terror attacks, and carried out the raid in Forest, which is close to Molenbeek, where several jihadis behind the Paris attacks lived and is known as the cradle of terrorism in Europe.

Yet the group still managed to find another address to stay, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesday's attacks.

Police also confirmed yesterday that those who carried it out have were part of a larger cell who carried out the Paris attacks four months ago.

Khalid El Bakraoui also rented the apartment where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday, according to respected Belgium news organisation RTL.

Belgium started three days of mourning yesterday after the bombings claimed the lives of 34 and left more than 250 injured in 79 minutes of rush hour carnage. The dead and injured have 40 different nationalities, including two Britons.

Despite a Government warning to stay at home thousands have gathered in the centre of the city to light candles, leave flowers and write messages of hope on the ground in defiance of the terrorists who carried out the the worst terror attacks in Belgium's history.

Hundreds also gathered outside Brussels airport yesterday evening for a candlelit vigil, with airport workers leading the tributes to those who were killed.

Terminal staff were joined by relatives as they lit candles, laid flowers and notes and embraced one another outside the city's Zaventem airport.

In mourning: Airport workers and their relatives lit candles outside Brussels main airport yesterday in honour of those who were killed

Seeking comfort in one another: Two women embraced outside Brussels airport as they attended a vigil in mourning of those who died

Tears and sorrow: Mourners gathered outside Brussels airport where 14 people were killed when two suicide bombers acted

Candles for the victims: A group of airport workers pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks during a vigil held yesterday

Grieving: Mourners blew kisses to those who died in the terror attacks as they attended a vigil yesterday outside the country's airport

United in mourning: Grief-stricken airport staff, relatives of the victims and members of the public gather outside the airport to pay tribute

Light up: Dozens of candles were lit outside Brussels main airport tonight as the country began three days of mourning for the victims

London: The Belgian flag was projected on two sides of the National Portrait Gallery and the fountain in Trafalgar Square glowed red

Manchester: The Town Hall was also lit up tonight, 24 hours after landmarks around the world were covered in the flag's colours

Belfast: The imposing City Hall was illuminated in the black, yellow and red of the Belgian flag in memory of the victims of the attacks

Liverpool: St George's Hall was also involved in the commemorations. Questions were raised after few UK landmarks were lit up on Tuesday

The pillars of Tower Bridge in London were lit up in a sequence of red, yellow (pictured) and black in a mark of respect to the victims

Respect: The arches of Wembley Stadium in London were also illuminated in the red, yellow and black of the Belgian flag tonght

Mother-of-two Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, was the first named victim of the Brussels terror attacks so far. The Peruvian national had lived in Belgium for nine years, was on her the way to visit relatives in New York with her twin daughters when she died in the double suicide bombing at the airport.

Ms Tapia's three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived the explosion on Tuesday morning.

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

The third victim whose identity has been released was also killed in the metro bomb. Olivier Delespesse was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the second bombing.

The girlfriend of a British father missing after the Brussels attacks is among desperate relatives searching the city's hospitals in the hope of finding their loved ones.

David Dixon has not been in contact with his partner, Charlotte Sutcliffe, since the bombs went off and may have been on the Brussels Metro at the time of Tuesday's explosion at the Maalbeck underground station.

The IT programmer, who lives in Brussels but is originally from Hartlepool, County Durham, was travelling to work on Tuesday morning but did not arrive at his office.

The 53-year-old would have travelled through Maelbeek station, where the attack happened.

Friends have been appealing for information on his whereabouts on social media and asking anyone with information to contact his Ms Sutcliffe.

United in grief: The people of Brussels stand together during a minute of silence around a makeshift memorial at Place de la Bourse

Gripped by grief: A heartbroken mother is comforted by her two children as she pays her respects to the 34 terror attack victims in Brussels this afternoon

Sombre: A woman weeps after people observed a one minute silence at the Place De La Bourse in honour of the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks

Anger: An overwhelmed mourner yells to the skies in Place De La Bourse as he and thousands of other met to show their defiance to the ISIS bombers who brought terror to their city

Tragic: One of the 20 people killed in the Maelbeek metro is taken from the station in a body bag yesterday as Belgium started three days of mourning after the worst terror attacks in its history

American siblings Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

According to Dutch media reports, the pair were on the phone to their family when the blasts took place and then the line went dead.

The Pinczowskis, both from New York, were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal and have not been seen or heard from since the incidents.

American Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing.

Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News: 'This is his third terrorist attack' adding he and Mason were a block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place in 2013. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks.

A haunting image of Nidhi Chaphekar, a married mother of two, went viral on social media in the aftermath of the attack, with #PrayForNidhi trending on social media. Covered in dust and blood, Nidhi is pictured amid the chaos in the tattered remains of her yellow Jet Airways jacket.

Victim: Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, died in the terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday, while her three-year-old twins Maureen and Alondra, and her Belgian husband Christopher Delcambe, survived

Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht, 20, left, was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries. Belgian Olivier Delespesse, right, was reportedly on his way to work at a government organisation for Belgian French-speakers, when he died in the blast on the metro train

David Dixon, from Hartlepool, has not been in contact with his partner Charlotte Louise Sutcliffe since leaving for work on Tuesday

New York siblings Sascha (pictured) and Alexander Pinczowski (right) were at Brussels Airport at the time of the two explosions inside a terminal - they haven't been seen since

Traumatic: Air hostess and mother of two Nidhi Chapekar (right) pictured covered in dust and with her yellow uniform in tatters

BROTHERS IN ARMS: GANGLAND EL BAKRAOUI SIBLINGS JAILED FOR WIELDING AK-47S... BUT STILL EVADED SPOOKS Khalid El Bakraoui Khalid, 27, (pictured, right) was well-known to police thanks to his long history of organised crime in the Belgian capital. In early 2011, he was jailed for five years for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings. It is not clear when he was let out or, if believing he had nothing to lose, whether he fled to Syria to train with ISIS. But at some point he linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris terror attacks and used a false name to rent a property in nearby Charleroi which was used as a hideout. In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons. Khalid later rented out a flat under an alias in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam. Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police. Ibrahim El Bakraoui Like his brother, Ibrahim (pictured right)had a long list previous offences to his name, but apparently none that aroused suspicion that he might be part of a terror cell. That is despite him being sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during a robbery. Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services. It is also not known when the 30-year-old was released from prison or whether he went to fight in Syria. But he is also believed to have linked up with the Paris terror squad in the run-up to November's massacre. It is not clear, however, when intelligence service made the link between the brothers and those behind the attacks that killed 130 in France. Security services will be under intense pressure to explain how they slipped through the net. Advertisement

Belkaid, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium, was found with an ISIS flag, AK-47 assault rifle and a book of jihadist literature next to his body.

At the time police said: 'Two persons [the El Bakraoui brothers] who were probably in the flat fled the scene and are being tracked down'.

Less than one week later, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui carried out the terrorist attack at Brussels airport and as passengers queued to check in for flights at around 8am local time (7am GMT) the first blast rang out.

People fled towards the entrance of Brussels Zaventem Airport, a second much bigger blast in front of them brought down much of the ceiling and sent razor-sharp shrapnel, body parts and clouds of thick dust and smoke billowing through the building.

According to Belgian news website 7sur7, Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for firing at police with an AK-47 assault rifle during a robbery.

Khalid was also given a five-year jail term in early 2011 for possessing AK-47s and committing a series of car-jackings, it was reported. It is not clear when they were released from prison.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by security services.

Belgian terror expert Pieter Van Ostaeyen says French prosecutor indicating that Abdeslam had started talking to police may have triggered the attack.s

'The three terrorists thought their network would be exposed and carried out their terror plan before this happened as a pre-emptive move,' he told Aftonbladet.

'It happened today [Tuesday], maybe weeks or months before the planned date.

'The French prosecutor should not have talked so much. He sent out the wrong signals to the ISIS network still intact in Europe, so it was high time for them to act and that's exactly what happened.

'The Belgian police investigation was leaking, and that's why it happened now,' he adds.

Belgian intelligence services are already under intense pressure to explain a number of failures that have allowed members of the ISIS cell to operate under their noses in the capital.

FUGITIVE PARIS 'BOMB MAKER' WAS BEHIND THE BRUSSELS BLASTS: TERROR EXPERT CLAIMS USE OF 'MULTIPLE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES' BEARS ALL THE HALLMARKS OF THE ISIS CELL THAT TARGETED THE FRENCH CAPITAL Cover: Belgian police were 'actively searching for' Europe's most-wanted man, who had been wearing a white coat, glasses and a hat The suspected bombmaker responsible for the Paris massacre was very likely behind the Brussels blasts, a top terror expert has claimed. Investigators are desperate to track down Mohamed Abrini (pictured) for his possible involvement in the mass slaughter in the Belgium capital on Tuesday Rafaello Pantucci, the Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said the use of 'multiple, viable explosive devices' bore all the hallmarks of the co-ordinated bomb attacks that killed 130 in the French capital. It also indicated that possibly more than one experienced bombmaker was involved, he added. Najim Laachraoui, who is believed to have gone on the run after Paris logistics chief Salah Abdeslam's capture. Laachraoui reportedly travelled to Syria in February 2013 and was stopped by guards at the Austria-Hungary border on September 9 last year while driving a rented Mercedes he shared with Salah Abdesalam, according to the Belgian Federal Prosecutor. The pair were also travelling with Mohamed Belkaid, 35, the man shot and killed during the raid to capture Abdelslam on Friday. It is thought Laachraoui was not stopped as he was using a drivers licence under a different name and traveled to Budapest twice in September 2015. On this instance, the three men had posed as tourists heading to Vienna on holiday and did not raise suspicions when they were stopped by police. Laachraoui was also captured on CCTV with Belkaid four days after the attacks during a money transfer in a Western Union bank in the Brussels area. 'The investigation showed that Soufiane Kayal can be identified as Najim Laachraoui, born on May 18, 1991 and who travelled to Syria in February 2013,' prosecutors said in a statement in Brussels. It is also using this alias that authorities have said he was in contact via phone with Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and gave him guidance in the lead-up to the November attacks. He has been identified as using the alias Soufiane Kayal - the name he used to rent the safe house used by the Paris bombers to plan the Paris attack, where his DNA has also been found as well as in their hideout in Schaerbeek. At the house on Rue Henri Berge, investigators found traces of TATP - a signature explosive of ISIS in Europe, and was found in the suicide vests used by the Paris attackers. To evade captue he also used documents under the name Soufiane Kayal, left, to travel to Syria, across Europe with his terrorist friends and also to rent safehouses ahead of the Brussels bombings Mr Pantucci said: 'We don't know much about him at this point. This individual is being identified as a bomb maker but we have concerns whether that is 100 per cent true or if he's one of a number of bomb makers. 'This terrorist group in Brussels had multiple, viable explosive devices. It suggests they were dealing with someone with substantial experience. 'That could be the same person responsible for the bomb devices in the Paris attacks but it could be someone else, part of a larger cell. 'Given the location and the nature and the use of explosives and guns the thought process goes down the page of assuming it's linked to the organised network around Abdeslam. 'We can't be sure but it would be surprising if it wasn't the same group.' A friend of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who masterminded the November 2015 Paris attacks, told police that the jihadi claimed he was among 90 'kamikaze' terrorists who smuggled themselves across the Mediterranean with migrants and refugees. Double life: Najim Laachraoui, right, also used documents under the name Soufiane Kayal, left, to travel to Syria, across Europe with his terrorist friends and also to rent safehouses ahead of the Brussels bombings. He has now been confirmed as the airport suicide bomber Advertisement

Escape: The body of jihadi is removed from the scene where shots were fired during a police anti-terror raid in Brussels linked to the Paris massacre suspects - but the brothers who blew up Brussels airport escaped

Battle: Police officers take positions on a roof as they surrounded the building - the El Bakraoui brothers are said to have opened fire and fled

Paris links: The terror cell in Brussels that killed 34 appear to have helped in Paris where 130 died - and Khalid El Bakraoui rented the apartment in white where Paris terror attacker Salah Abdeslam was captured by anti-terror police last Friday

The taxi driver who drove the bombers to the airport led police to their hideout after the men refused to let him touch their luggage. After the explosions he contacted the authorities.

Armed police in vans and helicopters then flooded in the district of Shaerbeek, north-east Brussels and a nail bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag in a flat.

The disturbing discoveries were made as officers searched properties in the district of Shaerbeek, north-east Brussels, where two Paris suspects are believed to have lived in the wake of the attacks.

Photographs taken overnight show teams of armed officers preparing to enter a building in the area as helicopters flew over the scene, providing light and firearm cover for those on the ground.

Forensic teams later used laser lights to search for clues and left the heavily guarded premises with evidence bags.

Najim Laachraoui, the airport bomber whose DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris terror attacks, had rented a hideout in Schaarbeek.

And Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam is believed to have been holed up in an apartment in Schaerbeek for three weeks after the massacre in France.

'The searches that took place in the Schaerbeek (district) found an explosive device containing among other things nails,' the federal prosecutor said in a statement.

'Investigators also discovered chemicals and a flag of the Islamic State,' the statement added.

Incredibly, Abdeslam - arrested on Friday, may have been hiding in nearby Molenbeek for four months since the deadly Paris terror attacks.

And there another suspect - named as Amine Choukri - was arrested by Belgian anti-terror police when he was found living with Abdeslam having entered Europe via Greece.

Najim Laachraoui - the second airport suicide bomber who killed 14 alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui - is the younger brother Mourad Laachraoui, a medal-winning athlete who represents Belgium in Taekwondo.

Mourad has distanced himself from his terrorist younger brother Najim, and the family, who are of Moroccan descent, are deeply ashamed of his fanatical opinions and murderous activities.

Brothers: Airport suicide bomber Najim Laachraoui (left) is the brother of Mourad (right), who represents Belgium in Taekwondo

THIRD BRUSH WITH TERROR: AMERICAN MORMON, 19, LEFT WITH BURNS AND SHRAPNEL INJURIES IN BRUSSELS ATTACK ALSO SURVIVED THE BOSTON AND PARISH BOMBINGS Miracle: Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, pictured, was injured in Brussels airport and also survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks An American Mormon missionary was injured in the horrifying Brussels airport terrorist attack after having previously survived the Boston bombing and the Paris attacks. Mormon missionary Mason Wells, 19, was injured along with his two colleagues and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, injuries from shrapnel and second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing. 'This is his third terrorist attack,' Chad Wells, Mason's father, told ABC News. 'This is the third time that sadly in our society that we have a connection to a bomb blast 'We live in a dangerous world and not everyone is kind and loving.' Chad said he and Mason were a block away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where the bombing took place, waiting for Mason's mother, Kymberly Wells, who was a runner. 'It had shaken their bodies and he had taken Mason to our hotel and said to stay there. 'Mason was very calm and composed,' Kymberly told ABC News. Mason is currently in a Belgian hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, he told his parents. He was at 'ground zero' of the blast zone when the bombs went off. Chad said a Mormon official relayed to the Wells family that Mason, 'despite being on the ground and bleeding actually had a sense of humor and remained calm through the situation'. 'Mason has always assured us that he is safe and careful. 'I told him first and foremost always be aware of your surroundings, please be very careful when you're traveling be very observant to people around you,' Kymberly said. The teen was also in Paris last year during the attacks. He shared with us that he was extremely close to the blast where he was burned by it,' Chad said. 'It's a blessing from God he's alive.' Joseph Empey, who was with Mason, was also injured in the attack. The 20-year-old was treated for second-degree burns to his hands, face and head. Advertisement

Collection: Forensic teams left the heavily guarded premises with evidence bags late into the night

Discoveries: Police in Brussels were seen searching the top floor flat in the suburb of Schaerbeek

Investigation: Forensic teams used laser lights to search for clues in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek

A masked officer is seen searching one apartment during the raids in the city's terror district

Armed Belgian police officers gather outside a building as they conduct searches at a number of addresses

A police sharpshooter takes aim from a helicopter hovering over Brussels' rooftops following the attacks

The blasts, which detonated near a Starbucks branch and several check-in desks, sent shockwaves through the terminal, shattering windows and knocking roof tiles off the ceiling as terrified passengers ran for their lives.

Initial reports suggested at least one of the explosions was the result of a suicide bombing. The other device may have been in a suitcase packed with nails and bolts placed at a check-in desk.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens more injured as Islamic State killers struck in Belgium four months after the Paris terror attacks that cost 130 lives. Eyewitnesses spoke of chaos as injured passengers staggered around or cowered under check-in desks as scattered suitcases and choking smoke filled the terminal.

Others ran for their lives, their clothes torn and bloodied, dodging numerous nails flying through the air, small fires and stepping over dismembered bodies, fallen ceiling tiles and shards of glass.

Later police reportedly found two Kalashnikov assault rifles next to the body of an attacker. An unused explosive belt was also discovered in the ruins of the airport, public broadcaster VRT said.

Dries Valaert, 30, who had been waiting to get his boarding pass for a business trip to Berlin, said: 'There was a first blast and then ten seconds later a second explosion. It was a big big blast.

'The ceiling tiles came down. It was just 30 metres from where I was. I saw people down on the ground and I just ran. I saw two people dead. I looked around as I ran away and saw them lying there. I jumped over the security barriers towards the departure gates as I thought it would be safer. My first intuition was to get out in case there were attackers with guns.

'I saw a woman aged around 18 with a hole in her hand and blood pouring out. There was a man with an injured ankle. There was lots of panic. People were running all over the place.'

Mr Valaert said he believed one of the bombs may have been hidden in suitcases that had just been checked in. He said: 'The explosions were just behind the service desks, they were blown towards us. To me it is the most realistic possibility.'

Poignant: A banner for the victims of the bombings reads ' I am Brussels' as it is unfurled at the Place de la Bourse alongside flowers, cards, balloons and candles for the dead and injured

Respect: A minute of silence is observed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, King Philippe of Belgium, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Belgian Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (front row left to right) in Brussels yesterday

Message: Queen Letizia of Spain signs the book of condolence at Belgium's embassy in Madrid yesterday with her husband King Felipe Belgian ambassador Pierre Labouverie

Message: Letizia and Felipe said that the thoughts of all of Spain were with those caught up in the Brussels atrocities

Ghost town: The deserted street Maelbeek metro station as the EU district around it lies empty as police continue to investigate the terror attack in the underground station below

Stranded: Hundreds of air passengers unable to leave Brussels after the airport bombing have been sleeping on camp beds at a crisis centre at the Brabanthal sport complex in Leuven

Security: Soldiers have been searching the bags of commuters for bombs and weapons yesterday, pictured here at the entrance of De Brouckere subway station in Brussels

Disbelief: Belgium has started three days of official mourning after Tuesday's twin terror attacks as devastated residents. A mother and two children sob in Place de la Bourse, left, as emergency services, pictured right after leaving the Maalbeek metro station yesterday, try to come to terms with their grief

Terrible journey: Medical staff pushing a stretcher and a folded body bag were carrying the dead from the remains of the train destroyed at Maalbeek metro station all day yeserday

Lockdown: Belgium police stand guard during an investigation in a house in the Anderlecht neighborhood in Brussels - the latest area raided yesterday

Samir Derrouich, who works at a cafe in the airport, said: 'The two explosions were almost simultaneous. They were both at the check-in desk. One was close to the Starbucks cafe just inside the airport entrance. It was awful, there was just blood. It was like the apocalypse.'

Alphonse Youla, 40, who had been working on a stand in the check-in hall wrapping people's bags in plastic for security since 4am, said: 'I heard a man shout some words in Arabic before an explosion, then a second explosion – a massive explosion, much bigger.

'I did not see the man who shouted in Arabic as he was behind me. I just heard the words.'

Speaking with his hands and clothes covered in blood from helping to carry five bodies out of the terminal, and struggling to hold back tears, he added: 'It was a horror. I saw at least seven people dead.

'There was blood. People had lost legs. You could see their bodies but no legs. I saw two men face down with blood pouring out of their heads. The injuries were so awful, you cannot imagine.'

Just 79 minutes later a bomb blew up an underground train killing 20.

Shocking images from Maelbeek station show the mangled remains of the train, smoke pouring out of the building and casualties littered on the pavement outside - just 400metres from the EU's headquarters.

The bomb went off at 9.19am - just over an hour after the two explosions killed at least 14 in a suicide attack on the Belgian capital's main airport.

Possibly packed with nails and bolts, they produced catastrophic damage, as the crowded middle carriage was filled with deadly shards of flying metal and glass. Along with the dead, up to 130 were wounded, according to official estimates.

Panic: A fire caused by one of the explosions in the terminal is tackled by airport staff with extinguishers surrounded by baggage and falling roof tiles

Explosion: The image above is being used by the Belgian media who claim this is the damage caused by the bomb at the Maelbeek Metro station in central Brussels. It has not been verified by the authorities but is being widely circulated on social media.

Survivors: Commuters on the Metro at the time described hearing a loud bang before they were evacuated from trains (pictured)

Aftermath: A man lies stricken on the pavement as survivors kiss in relief after surviving the bombing, which has killed at least ten

Victim: A bloodied commuter is given oxygen and treated for a head injury on the kerb outside the Metro station where a train was bombed

As the whole Brussels Metro system was evacuated, shell-shocked passengers in a following train were then forced to stumble through a smoke-filled tunnel to safety as the passageway echoed with the screams of terrified children.

At street level, shattered glass caused further casualties as the blast wave turned windows into deadly shrapnel. Smoke billowed out of the station as casualties littered the pavement waiting for help to arrive.

Summing up the surreal blend of terror and relief, one image showed a blood-stained man lying outside the station as a pair of stunned survivors embraced before turning their attention to the injured man.

The death toll was expected to rise after a spokesman for the Brussels Metro said ten of the injured were 'very seriously' wounded. Survivors described hearing a loud bang before they were evacuated from trains and forced to walk along darkened tracks to the closest safe station. Wiping blood from his face, Alexandre Brans, 32, said: 'It was panic everywhere.'

Brussels resident Shigeo Sugimoto, who was one Metro stop from the explosion, described the scene as an 'apocalypse'.

Another passenger, Evan Lamos, who was two stops away from Maelbeek, said: 'There was a dull thud. We felt a blast of air and my ears popped shortly afterwards.'

Briton Ian McCafferty, another passenger, told Sky News: 'Panic set in and people rushed off the train. We ran to the stairs and were met by soldiers who quickly evacuated the station.' Svetlin Lukarov, 26, said he would have been on the fateful train had he not stopped 'to have a cigarette and a coffee'. The banker, from Bulgaria, said: 'That cigarette saved my life.'

Passengers on Tuesday night also described their trek to safety after their train came to a sudden halt between the Maelbeek and Arts-Loi stations.

After 30 minutes trapped underground behind the train targeted by terrorists, a stream of people including mothers with children in pushchairs had no choice but to clamber on to the tracks and brave the 650-yard walk through the darkness to the next station.

A passenger tweeted a video of the traumatised passengers making their way out. Thomas Bignal, a Briton living in Brussels, said it took 15 minutes to evacuate the train. 'After a minute or two, there was lots of smoke and a plasticy smell and it became increasingly warm and difficult to breathe,' he told The Guardian.

Passenger Evan Lamos tweeted a picture of a child in a pushchair with his mother outside the station, adding: 'Was able to carry this brave little guy out from the Metro line to Arts-Loi.'

Five European Commission officials were also unaccounted for on Tuesday night. Maelbeek is the station that most EU workers use daily and they were yesterday urged to 'stay home or inside buildings'.

The station is close to the Commission's Berlaymont headquarters, the European Parliament and the European Council's Justus Lipsius building.

Experts believe the bombs were loaded with metal shrapnel to inflict maximum casualties.

An X-ray image of a bolt inside the chest on one patient at a military hospital showed how they came with inches of death. Doctors at the Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven, east of Brussels, which treated 13 victims, said all the bombs contained metal objects.

Blast zone: The two bombs are believed to have gone off in these areas of the arrivals hall, as thousands were checking in for flights

A soldier walks through debris after two explosion rocked a terminal building at Brussels Airport - but security sources say Belgian police already have CCTV of at least one bomber and the explosion

Passengers shield themselves under bags as smoke and debris fill the terminal in the moments after the twin blast at Brussels Airport

Patients taken there suffered fractures, burns and deep cuts thought to have been caused by bolts or nails. Five of them were seriously injured.

At the nearby KU Leuven hospital, Dr Marc Decremer said 11 casualties were treated for serious injuries including three or four children. 'We have seen deep flesh wounds,' he said. 'That can be caused by flying glass thrown by the explosion, or by the bomb, or by particles in the bomb.'

The British Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were injured in the explosions, while three American missionaries from Utah were also seriously hurt.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'Embassy staff are providing consular assistance to two injured Britons and are ready to support any further British nationals that have been affected. British nationals should follow the advice of local security authorities and check our travel advice for updates.'

The attacks sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport, and rekindled debate about European security cooperation and police methods.

Prime Minister Charles Michel cancelled a trip to China and convened his inner cabinet to discuss security. Belgium was to observe a nationwide minute's silence at noon, with King Philippe, the premier and leaders of European Union institutions attending an outdoor memorial event in Brussels' European district.

The Brussels blasts fuelled political debate across the globe about how to combat militants.

'We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world,' said U.S. President Barack Obama.

Donald Trump suggested suspects could be tortured to avert such attacks.

The US Republican presidential candidate also said it was 'a disgrace' that a suspect behind last year's Paris attacks had been found after a long manhunt by police in an area of Brussels where he lived.

Mr Trump, who wants a ban on Muslims entering the US, condemned the 'outrageous' attacks on the Brussels airport and metro and said he would 'hit ISIS so hard you wouldn't believe it'.

But Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May hit back this afternoon, declaring that Mr Trump was 'absolutely plain wrong' to blame Muslims for failing to report extremists.

Israel's intelligence minister accused Belgian leaders of laxity - and concentrating too much on chocolate not security.

Yisrael Katz said: 'If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them'.

Islamic State said in a statement that 'caliphate soldiers, strapped with suicide vests and carrying explosive devices and machineguns' struck Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station.

About 300 Belgians are estimated to have fought with Islamists in Syria, making the country of 11 million the leading European exporter of foreign fighters and a focus of concern in France and other neighbours over its security capabilities.

Reviving arguments over Belgian policies following the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed in an operation apparently organised from Brussels, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin spoke of 'naivete' on the part of 'certain leaders' in holding back from security crackdowns on Muslim communities.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders retorted that each country should look to its own social problems, saying France too had rough high-rise suburbs in which militants had become radicalised.

Revealed: Bomber brothers were gangland criminals and wanted by Interpol – but were STILL able to provide ammunition for Paris attacks and rent flat for Brussels mastermind

Two brothers who blew themselves up in Brussels were able to evade security services despite being notorious gangland criminals and placed on a worldwide terror watchlist, it emerged yesterday.

Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui were yesterday named as two of the ISIS suicide bombers who rocked the Belgian capital on Tuesday, killing 34 people and wounding more than 270 others.

Their involvement provides for the first time a direct link between the Brussels attacks and the ISIS massacre in Paris that killed 130 people in November.

It has since emerged that they each extensive criminal record and were both jailed several years ago for shocking crimes involving Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Khalid was also listed on an Interpol 'red notice' – an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges.

Yet they were still allowed to play a major for ISIS, providing ammunition and renting out a number of safe houses where the Brussels and Paris attacks were plotted before martyring themselves.

On the terror watch list: Khalid was on an Interpol 'red notice' – an alert to police forces around the world saying that he was wanted in Belgium on terrorism charges

Ibrahim blew himself up in the check-in hall of Zaventem airport while Khalid attacked a metro train at Maalbeek station near the EU headquarters, Frederic van Leeuw told a news conference.

Ibrahim, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 for shooting at police with a Kalashnikov during a robbery.

He has been on the run since breaching parole terms last year.

Khalid, 27, was jailed for five years in 2011 for possessing AK-47 machine guns and committing a series of car-jackings.

Their use of Kalashnikovs, a signature weapon for ISIS and other extremist groups, will raise questions about why they were not monitored more closely by intelligence services.

The revelations are the latest in a series of failures by security chiefs facing damaging questions about why the siblings and other members of the cell were able to slip through the net.

The safe house rented by the El Bakraoui brothers in the Brussels district of Molenbeek where Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam was arrested in a police raid last Friday after four months on the run

Paris and Brussels logistics chief Salah Abdeslam (left) was arrested (right) while trying to flee his safehouse in the suburb of Molenbeek close to his family home and near the district's police station

Both were released early from prison – although it is not clear when.

But at some point Khalid linked up with the terror cell behind the Paris attacks and used a false name to rent a property in the city of Charleroi as a hideout.

In the hours before the November massacre, logistics chief Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim are believed to have stopped at the apartment to pick up weapons before going on to unleash hell on the French capital.

Khalid later rented out a flat, also under an alias, in the Brussels suburb of Forest which was stormed last week by police hunting Salah Abdeslam.

Khalid and his brother, Ibrahim, are believed to have escaped during a shoot-out with police in which another militant, Mohamed Belkaid, was killed.

Continuing to act with impunity, the brothers are also understood to have rented out a flat in the suburb of Schaerbeek where they made final preparations before storming the airport and Metro.

Yesterday, prosecutors said Ibrahim left a suicide note at that apartment, telling how he was desperate to blow himself up because he did not want to go to prison like his friend, Salah Abdeslam.

Prosecutors said the confirmed toll from the two attacks was 31 dead and 270 wounded.

Van Leeuw said Bakraoui's 'will' said he was 'in a rush', and 'I don't know what to do... hunted everywhere... no longer safe', adding that 'I don't want to end up in a cell next to him'.

That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedly linked to Bakraoui, and who is in custody in Belgium after being captured last week.

The computer on which Ibrahim wrote the will was dumped in a trash can in the same street in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek where investigators found an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State group flag and bomb-making materials on Tuesday night.

Prosecutors confirmed that they had found 15 kilos (33lb) of TATP high explosive in the flat.

They also found chemicals including 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of liquid oxygen, detonators, a suitcase full of nails and other bomb-making equipment including plastic trays, tools and ventilator.

A third man, who was filmed with Ibrahim and a second unidentified suicide bomber and who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, prosecutors said.

'The third man is on the run. He left his bag with the biggest bomb in it, which exploded later because it was so unstable.