Year after Belgium attacks, survivor reflects: ‘What if?’

BRUSSELS, March 22

Belgium marked the first anniversary of bomb attacks that killed 32 people with remembrance ceremonies, a new memorial and poignant reflections from those who lost partners but survived.

“Many times I ask myself ‘What if?’” said German Lars Waetzmann, who lost his wife Jennifer when two young Belgian Muslims blew themselves up with suitcase bombs in the departure hall of Brussels airport a year ago. The couple had been about to fly to New York.

“What if we had left 10 minutes later? What if we had driven a bit slower? What if? But it happened,” he said, before recounting how a stranger had laid a jacket under his head and stayed by his side.

“It shows that next to horrible things that happened that day, beautiful things can happen.”

Waetzmann was speaking at a ceremony where the king and queen, government ministers, airport and rescue staff listened to a roll call of the 16 victims who died at the airport.

A minute of silence was held at 7:58 am to mark the time when two young Belgian Muslims blew themselves up with suitcase bombs in the cause of Islamic State.

A bronze abstract sculpture which previously sat near the check-in desks was unveiled in a new site by the approach road to the terminal. It still bears marks from the explosions, which were carried out by individuals linked to Brussels-based militants who had killed 130 people in Paris four months earlier.

Just after 9 am, around the time a third bomber detonated his bag on a train, the king laid a wreath at Maelbeek metro station beside a commemorative wall covered in graffiti left by passers-by in the days after March 22: “Tous ensemble” (All together) read the most prominent message above a red heart.

A monument to all the victims was inaugurated close to the headquarters of the European Union. EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said the attacks “struck at the very heart of Europe” but had failed to undermine Europeans’ faith in democratic freedoms.

King Philippe, who was present at all the ceremonies, addressed the families of victims: “To hate and to violence, you responded with dignity.”

Prime Minister Charles Michel said the Belgian state, which was criticised for failing to monitor large numbers of its citizens returning from fighting in Syria, had learned lessons and made reforms in security and intelligence.  — Reuters

The face of tragedy

Indian flight attendant Nidhi Chaphekar , survivor of the Brussels twin terror attacks, sobs during a memorial ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy on Wednesday. Covered in blood and dust at the Brussels airport (right), Chaphekar became a symbol of the attacks that would sum up the horror and the tragedy that killed 32 persons and wounded 270 others. She is hopeful that she will one day be declared medically fit to return to the skies. AFP