Airport terror suspect co-operates with reconstruction of events

Suspected terrorist Mohamed Abrini – otherwise known as “the man in the hat” – has taken part in a reconstruction of the events of 22 March in Schaarbeek and at Brussels Airport.

Abrini, the sole survivor of the group of three suicide bombers that detonated bombs at the airport, began the day in Schaerbeek, where police had established a large security perimeter around Rue Max Roos to carry out the reconstruction.

Abrini and the other two bombers – Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Lachraaoui – took a taxi to the airport, carrying the suitcases packed with explosives. Bakraoui and Lachraaoui detonated their bombs, but Abrini left the terminal building and walked into Brussels, where he is assumed to have holed up somewhere in Schaerbeek.

In the meantime, Ibrahim’s brother Khalid blew himself up on the metro in Maelbeek station. The death toll from both attacks stands at 32.

Later in the day, after the final flights at Zaventem, Abrini took part in a reconstruction of what happened on his arrival at the airport on 22 March. The procedure took place “without incident” according to the federal prosecutor’s office. “In the interests of the investigation, no details will be given about the course of the reconstruction or the results.”

The prosecutor does not intend to carry out a similar reconstruction of the Maalbeek attack as the only suspect involved in that attack is dead.

Photo: Thierry Roge/BELGA