A terrorist attack in the city of Brussels, Belgium left at least 30 people dead and more than 200 injured Tuesday morning after three explosions rocked an airport and a subway station.
Authorities said that two explosions that hit Brussels Airport at 8 a.m. were caused by suicide bombers. An hour later, a third explosion happened in a subway station according to Tribune News Service.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least 30 people and injured 230.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement on Tuesday saying that four missionaries serving in Paris, France were injured in the explosions at the airport. Elder Richard Norby of Lehi, Elder Joseph Empey of Santa Clara and Elder Mason Wells of Sandy were accompanying Sister Fanny Rachel Clain to the airport for Clain to travel to her mission assignment in Ohio when the explosions occurred. The statement said that Clain suffered minor injuries while Norby, Empey and Wells’ injuries were described as serious.
Pascal Friedmann, a public relations major at Weber State, grew up in Germany roughly 30 minutes from the border with Belgium and almost two hours from Brussels.
“It hits very close to home,” he said when comparing the distance from Brussels to his hometown. “Imagine something happening in like Provo. That’s what it’s like.”
Friedmann said he was up early Tuesday morning working on homework when he first began to see reports of what had happened.
“It was shocking, but at the same time I was not surprised. There’s been a lot of things going on in Belgium: terrorism and terrorism threats,” Friedmann said.
He also stated that although he was concerned about the safety of his friends and family in Germany, he was confident that the people of Europe would be strong enough to survive this latest attack.
“There was definitely some concern about the security of my family and the people I grew up with and things along those lines,” he said. “But at the same time I feel like Europe has continued every time to live on and stand strong after attacks had happened in London, Madrid, Paris over the past decade or so.”
