Three Dutch and at least two U.S. citizens were killed in the Brussels airport bombing, it has been confirmed.
Bert Koenders, the Dutch Foreign Minister, said on Friday the three Dutch victims were a woman from Deventer, in the east of the Netherlands, and a brother and sister from Limburg province in the south, who were living in the U.S.
American officials separately said at least two U.S .citizens had been confirmed dead and their families informed.
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Mr. Koenders did not give the names of the Dutch victims. However, the brother and sister were named locally as Alex and Sascha Pinczowski, while the third victim was named as Elita Weah. All three were waiting to fly to the U.S.
The Dutch and Americans were among 31 people killed in the coordinated terror attacks that struck the Belgian capital on Tuesday. Belgian police have made seven arrests following the attacks at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station. Two suspects are still believed to be on the run .
Several police raids were carried out across Brussels on Thursday evening, as prosecutors released more evidence that the attacks were carried out by the same Islamic State cell responsible for November’s carnage in Paris .
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The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, arrived in Brussels on Friday for talks with counterterrorism officials. “The United States stands firmly with Belgium and with the nations of Europe in the face of this tragedy,” Mr. Kerry said in an appearance with the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel. “We — all of us representing countless nationalities — have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here or in Paris, or Ankara, or Tunis, or San Bernardino, or elsewhere. We will not be intimidated,” he said. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2016