Delta confirms Brussels fatalities

Delta Air Lines has confirmed that its passengers were among those killed in the terrorist attack on Brussels Airport last week.

The airline released a statement on Friday saying that Delta “customers are among the fatalities caused by the explosions in the departures area at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport on March 22”. It didn’t say how many passengers had been killed or injured, or whether any of its staff had been hurt.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Brussels. On behalf of all Delta people, I extend our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers to those who lost loved ones in the March 22 tragedy in Brussels. Delta people are grieving with you,” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s incoming CEO.

Meanwhile Jet Airways has confirmed that two staff members were injured in the airport blasts. The Indian carrier’s chairman, Naresh Goyal, has vowed to provide Nidhi Chaphekar and Amit Motwani with the “best medical attention available”.

“I wish to convey our deepest heartfelt condolences to the families who have suffered personal loss and deep psychological trauma in the terrible tragedy that befell Brussels on the 22nd March. The Jet Airways family stands shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with them and the citizens of Belgium. We feel their pain in our hearts,” Goyal said in a statement.

The terror attacks came only five days before Jet was due to end its Brussels flights. The airline switched its operations to Amsterdam on 27 March, as part of a new arrangement with Delta and KLM.

It has also been confirmed that Brussels Airport will stay closed until at least Tuesday 29 March. A team of engineers has completed a structural assessment of the airport and found that both the main building and connector building where hand luggage and passengers are checked, are “stable”.

Eleven people died when two bombs, believed to be hidden inside suitcases, were detonated in the departure hall on Tuesday morning.