In shadow of attacks, Brussels mayor says city will never be the same

PARIS — The mayor of Brussels says the Belgian capital will never be “normal” again, following a series of terrorist attacks last week that rocked the city and left scores of people dead.

Speaking in Paris Tuesday alongside his Parisian counterpart, Yvan Mayeur said the city was struggling to come to terms with the attacks and would need time to heal.

Asked whether life in Brussels was returning to normal, Mayeur said, “There’s no such thing as ‘normal’ anymore. That’s a concept we have to revisit.”

Officials on Monday updated the death toll from the bombings at the Brussels airport and at the Maalbeek metro station from 28 to 35, after several more people died while hospitalized. Over 340 people were wounded in the blasts.

At the meeting held in the French capital’s neo-Renaissance city hall, Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged solidarity with Belgium as it begins “a long and painful process of grieving and reconstruction.”

One hundred and thirty people were killed in the November attacks on a Paris stadium, cafes and a rock concert.

As Belgium tries to come to terms with the tragedy, recriminations continue over whether the authorities could and should have done more to prevent the carnage.

Mayeur, who is facing criticism in the Belgian media for his own actions before and after bombings, acknowledged shortcomings by authorities in the lead up to the attacks.

“There are certainly some analyses to be done on the investigation. Were there mistakes? Did we miss anything? Certainly. Otherwise these attacks would not have happened,” Mayeur said.

Asked whether the Islamic extremist network behind the attacks in Brussels and Paris had been badly damaged, he said, “We do believe that and we hope so.”

On Monday Belgian police released the sole suspect charged in relation to the attacks. Prosecutors had been looking into the theory that he was the third man seen in CCTV footage alongside two suicide bombers at Zaventem airport but dropped charges following a lack of evidence linking him to the carnage.