Brussels: Stories of horror and hope
A day of travel or a common commute shattered in an instant
A Peruvian woman died while her Belgian husband chased after their twin daughters at the airport’s departures area.
An Englishman texted his family that he was OK after the airport explosions, only to be feared dead in the later subway explosion. And so many more. The victims of the Brussels attacks, both those who died and survived, reflect the city’s place at a major world crossroads. The Belgian capital, headquarters of the European Union and NATO, holds tens of thousands of expatriate residents, as well as millions of tourists who come to experience its magnificent central square, the Grande Place, its famed restaurants and the cheeky Manneken Pis statue.
As they prepared to fly from the airport Tuesday morning or traveled to work on the subway, they encountered the horror wrought by Islamic terrorists striking at the heart of Europe. Here are some of their stories: ADELMA TAPIA RUIZ
Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, died at the airport. She had come to see off relatives with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin daughters, Maureen and Alondra.
Ruiz’s brother, Fernando Tapia Coral, told The New York Times that the couple’s daughters went outside the gate area to play shortly before the explosion, and Delcambe followed them.
Coral confirmed his sister’s death on Facebook, saying, “This
tragedy today touched the doors of my family this morning in the Brussels airport, when my sister Adelma Tapia died in the terrorist attack and was not able to survive this jihadist attack that we’ll never understand.”
The New York Times reported Delcambe and Maureen were injured, while Alondra escaped unharmed.
MORMON MISSIONARIES
Three American missionaries from Utah — Richard Norby, 66, Joseph Empey, 20, and Mason Wells, 19, — went to the airport to drop off a fellow missionary, Frenchwoman Fanny Clain, when the bombers struck, injuring all four.
For Wells, it must have seemed as if he were cursed — he was one block away from the Boston bombing in 2013 and was in France about two hours away from Paris during terror attacks there in November.
Tuesday, Wells’ father, Chad, said, “Hopefully, he’s run his lifelong odds, and we’re done. I think it will make him a stronger person.”
Empey, who had second-degree burns on his hands, face and head, underwent surgery for shrapnel injuries to his legs, according to a statement from his parents, Court and Amber. “We have been in touch with him, and he is grateful and in good spirits,” they said.
DAVID DIXON
According to British media reports, David Dixon, 51, sent a message to his family telling them he was OK after the airport attacks, but he has not been seen or heard from since the subway blast an hour later. His aunt, Anne Dixon, told the
Daily Telegraph that the English computer programmer sent her the message before getting on the metro to go to work.
A friend, Rachel Stevenson, wrote on Facebook, “My friend David Dixon was on the metro at the time of the blasts and is still missing.”
The British government said four Britons were injured in the attacks.
THE SHULTSES
Family members of Justin Shults, 30, of Gatlinburg, Tenn., and his wife, Stephanie, 29, of Lexington, Ky., said the couple were at the airport Tuesday before the bombings.
They moved to Brussels in 2014 and were taking Stephanie’s mother, Carolyn Moore, to the airport. Moore survived, but no one has heard from the Shultses since.
THE PINCZOWSKIS
Brother and sister Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski of New York City are among the missing. According to New York’s Daily
News, the pair traveled to the airport to return to the USA and had phoned a relative when one of the bombs went off.
During the call, the family member heard a blast and glass shattering before the line went dead, the Dutch newspaper Alge
meen Dagblad reported. Sascha’s best friend, Alex Kneeshaw, told the Daily News that her heart was “broken beyond belief.”
“I have known the Pinczowskis for over 15 years,” she said. “We lived in Germany together where I met the whole family and have been a part of it ever since. She is the kindest, goofiest and downto-Earth girl I have ever met.”
Sascha’s LinkedIn profile says she studied business at Marymount Manhattan College and worked in events management.
OTHER VICTIMS
At least eight French nationals were wounded, three of them seriously, while three Italian citizens were hurt, The Guardian reported. The newspaper said two Colombians and an Ecuadorian also were injured.
An Air Force officer, his wife and four children were injured at the airport, the Associated Press reported.
Two crewmembers working with the Indian airline Jet Airways were injured at the airport,
The New York Times reported. Belgium declared three days of mourning for the victims.
The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
“My sister Adelma Tapia ... was not able to survive this jihadist attack that we’ll never understand.”
Fernando Tapia Coral