Brussels terrorist attack: police hunt man in the hat, seen at airport with suspected suicide bombers

Police in Brussels are hunting for a young man seen with two suspected suicide bombers who are believed to have blown themselves up in the terrorist attacks on the Belgian capital that claimed at least 34 lives on Tuesday.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blasts at Brussels’ airport and a rush-hour metro train.

Police issued a wanted notice for a young man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden luggage trolley at Zaventem airport alongside two others who, investigators said, later blew themselves up in the terminal, killing at least 11 people. He was seen fleeing the scene and a third bomb was found unexploded at the airport.

A Belgian security official says the death toll has risen to 34, although it was unclear how many died at each site. At least 20 died at the Metro station, which Islamic State said was also a suicide blast; the tolls were vague because of the carnage at both sites.

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 Islamic State’s attacks on Paris last November in which 130 people were killed.