The next day, Brussels wakes up again in dismay. The Belgian capital has proclaimed three days of national mourning and the news of the day after are mainly two: the budget rises to 32 dead (the first victim was officially identified: a 37-year-old Peruvian woman) e 270 injured, and those responsible for the carnage have been identified. Once again we are dealing with two kamikaze brothers, as happened four months ago in Paris: they are Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui the suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the airport and in the Brussels metro. The two are between 27 and 30 years old, they would have a previous one for robbery and one for terrorism. The identification of the two was disclosed by the police, while an accomplice was captured who however is not the famous "third man", the one who appears in the closed circuit images of the airport with the two brothers and with a hat on . The man on the run is therefore the fourth component of the terrorist commando: it would be Najim Laachraoui, the same blaster of the French massacres of last November 13th. There was also another suicide bomber at the airport, who has not yet been identified.
ITALIAN VICTIMS - Meanwhile, the Farnesina speaks of a first Italian victim, after news of three wounded arrived yesterday, none of them in danger of life: it is Chiara Burla, 24, from Varallo; Marco Semenzato, Paduan, 34 years old; Michele Venetico, 21, born in Belgium, who had been working at the Zaventem airport for three years. "It is very probable that there is an Italian victim among the victims of the Brussels attacks," the foreign ministry said. Shortly afterwards Maurizio Lupi, upon leaving Palazzo Chigi, where a summit was underway with the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, confirmed: "The Prime Minister has informed us that there is an ongoing check on a possible victim Italian. It would be one woman who normally took the subway and which is missing. You should have been among the victims of the subway but the violence of the explosion made the victims unrecognizable ”. The Belgian Foreign Minister said that people of 40 different nationalities were killed and injured. The Belgium-Portugal friendly match, initially scheduled in Brussels and then canceled due to mourning, will instead be played regularly but in Portugal.
POLITICAL REACTIONS – Prime Minister Matthew Renzi, after the security committee convened yesterday in which he called for calm, he spoke publicly again today, opening the meeting with the majority and opposition group leaders at Palazzo Chigi: “We need a European pact against ISIS. It is necessary to invest in a unitary structure of European security. Tighten intelligence mechanisms between European countries and beyond, enhance Europol, work on a shared structure”, reiterated the Prime Minister. Solidarity also came from Cuba yesterday from the American president Barack Obama: "America will do everything to ensure that those responsible for these acts pay for what they have done," said the American president speaking alongside Raul Castro. “We must stand united regardless of nationality, race and creed in the fight against the horror of terrorism. We can and will defeat those who threaten our safety and the safety of people around the world."
“The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium” —@POTUS on the attacks in #Brussels https://t.co/TWxnIDfDqL
- The White House (@WhiteHouse) 22 March 2016
