{"id":29076,"date":"2016-03-22T08:50:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T14:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=29076"},"modified":"2016-03-22T08:51:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T14:51:20","slug":"at-least-34-dead-in-brussels-attacks-belgiums-jewish-schools-locked-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/at-least-34-dead-in-brussels-attacks-belgiums-jewish-schools-locked-down\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 34 dead in Brussels attacks, Belgium\u2019s Jewish schools locked down"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-1161155\" class=\"post-1161155 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-top-headlines category-news-opinion category-world loop\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Jewish schools and other institutions in Antwerp and Brussels went into lockdown following attacks in Belgium that killed at least 34\u00a0people at the main airport and in the metro in Brussels.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29077\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29077\" class=\"wp-image-29077 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22:  A view of bomb damage as passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre\/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels.jpg 880w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/198;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29077\" class=\"wp-image-29077 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 22:  A view of bomb damage as passengers are evacuated from Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack on March 22, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. At least 13 people are though to have been killed after Brussels airport was hit by two explosions whilst a Metro station was also targeted. The attacks come just days after a key suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was captured in Brussels. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre\/Getty Images)\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Brussels.jpg 880w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-29077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of bomb damage at Zaventem Bruxelles International Airport after a terrorist attack there. A Metro station was also targeted. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At least 14 people were killed in the attack Tuesday morning at Zaventem Airport,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/live.lesoir.be\/Event\/Explosion_a_Zaventem\" target=\"_blank\">according\u00a0<\/a>to the online edition of the Le Soir daily. Officials said a suicide bomber detonated the deadly charge.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">About an hour later, another 20\u00a0people died in an explosion inside a metro train in central Brussels, according to the daily. Several explosions were heard near the Maelbeek district, not far from the headquarters of the European Union.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dozens were injured in both attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Police advised civilians to remain indoors. Public transportation and flights to and from\u00a0Zaventem were suspended.<\/p>\n<p>Among the wounded was an Israeli citizen who resides in Antwerp and was in Brussels\u00a0for a wedding, according to Rabbi Pinchas Kornfeld, a community leader from Antwerp. He sustained injuries to his legs but is not in life-threatening condition, Kornfeld said.<\/p>\n<p>Another Jewish person was moderately wounded, according to\u00a0Samuel Markowitz, a paramedic for\u00a0Hatzoloh, a local Jewish emergency services organization. Several dozen Jews were among the hundreds of passengers who were evacuated to a safe area near the airport, he added in an <a href=\"http:\/\/joodsactueel.be\/2016\/03\/22\/update-over-joodse-slachtoffers-zaventem-13u40\/\" target=\"_blank\">interview <\/a>with the Joods Actueel Jewish monthly.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the attacks, the Antwerp World Diamond Center canceled a Purim party it planned for tomorrow \u201cout of respect for the victims and their families,\u201d the center\u2019s CEO, Ari Epstein, <a href=\"http:\/\/joodsactueel.be\/2016\/03\/22\/awdc-annuleert-poerimfeest-na-reeks-aanslagen-in-onze-hoofdstad\/\" target=\"_blank\">told <\/a>Joods Actueel. Another Purim party by the European Jewish Association was canceled in Brussels, the group\u2019s director, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said.<\/p>\n<p>The airport attack occurred at 8 a.m. near the American Airlines desk, <a href=\"http:\/\/joodsactueel.be\/2016\/03\/22\/sprake-van-joodse-gewonden-bij-explosie-zaventem\/\" target=\"_blank\">according <\/a>to the online edition of Joods Actueel. Kornfeld said many Jewish passengers were traveling\u00a0between Antwerp, which has a large haredi Orthodox community, and New York.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the right time and place to produce many Jewish casualties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Le Soir reported that two explosions ripped through the airport. A federal prosecutor said at least one of the explosions came from a suicide bomber\u2019s explosive vest.<\/p>\n<p>Recess was canceled at dozens of Jewish schools in Antwerp and children were instructed to stay inside the buildings, Kornfeld said. Community leaders are discussing the possibility of canceling school tomorrow and Purim street festivities planned for Thursday. Shortly thereafter, similar instructions went out from the Belgian government\u2019s crisis center to all of the country\u2019s schools. University students were instructed to refrain from coming to campus.<\/p>\n<p>Witnesses told Joods Actueel that at the airport, they heard shouts in Arabic, gunshots and a massive explosion that tore through the ceiling and produced a thick cloud of white smoke and dust as\u00a0hundreds of people fled from buildings there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"At%20least%2034%20dead%20in%20Brussels%20attacks%2C%20Belgium%E2%80%99s%20Jewish%20schools%20locked%20down\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4553,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29078,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29076\/revisions\/29078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}