Deadly failure to shut metro

THE Brussels metro bombing that killed at least 20 including a British victim took place after Belgian officials failed to shut down the line in time, it was revealed last night.

Suicide bomber Khalid El-Bakraoui was able to blow himself up on a busy commuter train going through the city centre at 9.11am on Tuesday last week – more than an hour after terrorists set off two suicide bombs at the airport at 7.58am.

Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon said the government took the decision to evacuate and close the metro system at 8:50am because of fears it could also be targeted.

But transport chiefs last night claimed they were not notified, meaning the service continued as normal.

After the airport attack, British IT consultant David Dixon, 50, from Hartlepool, sent his worried aunt Ann Dixon, 69, a text message saying he was ‘safe’ – but then boarded the metro train that was blown up as it was about to leave Maelbeek station, near the EU headquarters.

It has also emerged that police raised concerns about inadequate security at the airport just four days before the attacks.

The Belgian police union, NSPV, told the interior ministry on Friday, March 18, that they would go on strike unless it was improved. Alain Peeters, the union’s general secretary, said: ‘The sad events of March 22 demonstrate that our concerns are justified. We demand more security and more staff.’

Officers have said that they will not return to work when the airport reopens unless staffing numbers are increased and no vehicles are allowed to approach within 100 metres of the temporary check-in hall that is being built.