Belgium attacks toll revised down to 28
3 suicide bombers deducted from earlier toll of 31; 24 of the dead identified; Brussels 'March against Fear' canceled over security concerns
BRUSSELS, Belgium — The death toll from the March 22 attacks on Brussels airport and the metro system has been revised down to 28, the Belgian Crisis Center said on Sunday.
Spokesman Benoit Ramacker told AFP that the previous toll of 31 included the three suicide bombers — two who blew themselves up at the airport and one on board a train stopped at Maalbeek station.
“The provisional toll is 28 people killed in the attacks,” he said.
Only 24 of the victims have been identified to date, 14 of whom were killed at the airport and 10 at the train station.
The toll includes 13 Belgians and 11 foreigners from eight different countries, the Crisis Center said.
A total 340 people from 19 countries were injured, of whom 101 remain in hospital. Sixty-two of them are in intensive care, half of them with severe burns.
“The toll, unfortunately, is still provisional due to the many people still in intensive care,” the spokesman said.
Earlier on Sunday, Belgium charged a suspect thought to be the fugitive third Brussels airport bomber with terrorist murder, as a Sunday peace march for the victims was canceled for security reasons.
The airport suspect officially identified as Faycal C, and named by sources close to the inquiry as Faycal Cheffou, was arrested on Thursday night as investigators believe he could be the third man pictured in airport surveillance footage alongside two suicide bombers.
The third man, wearing a distinctive dark hat and light-colored jacket, has been the subject of a massive manhunt after he fled the scene when his device failed to go off in the attack at Zaventem airport.
In the grieving Belgian capital, a defiant “March Against Fear” had been planned for Sunday from the central Place de La Bourse, which has become a shrine to the victims, but was called off after authorities said the mass gathering could draw much-needed resources away from the investigation.
“Let us allow the security services to do their work and that the march, which we too want to take part in, be delayed for several weeks,” Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said.