Anniversary of 22 March terrorist attacks marked by memorials

The suicide bombings at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station on 22 March 2024 killed 32 people and injured more than 300.

Two minutes of silence was held yesterday at the airport at 7.58, the moment that two bombers detonated their explosives. The same was done at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels’ EU district at 9.11, the moment that another bomber blew himself up.

At both locations, the king and queen were present to accompany families of the victims, emergency service staff, airport and metro staff and politicians. Both the injured and family members of the dead gave testimonies about the effect the event had on their lives.

Drivers of metros, trams and busses in Brussels brought all vehicles to a halt at 9.11 for a minute of noise, as opposed to silence. As they honked their horns, passengers were encouraged to applaud and make noise as a sign of resistance to the intimidation of terrorism.

At the same moment, Brussels City councillors and staff gathered on Grote Markt to observe a minute’s silence. Elsewhere, advertising company Clear Channel programmed its roadside ad panels not to show commercial advertising for the whole day. In Bozar, choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker led some 100 people in a group dance referred to as a “connection ritual”.

At 16.00, several hundred people gathered on Beursplein in Brussels (pictured), which was home to a spontaneous memorial following the attacks where people left thousands of flowers, notes and candles. An organised event featured speakers and music by schoolchildren.

Over the canal in Molenbeek, which is home to many Muslim residents, about 400 schoolchildren sang songs of peace beside the monument to the victims of the attacks on the square in front of the town hall. Some of those involved in the attacks in Brussels and also in Paris in 2015 were from the municipality. An interreligious march also took place from the square to the Beurs.

Even Brussels’ most famous resident was involved: Manneken Pis was dressed in the uniform of the city’s fire service, as a mark of recognition of the work of the emergency services on 22 March and the following weeks.

Photo: Olivier Gouallec/Newzulu/BELGA