Brussels attacks bombers 'forced to leave 2 bombs behind because taxi driver only had room for 3 bags' The men are believed to be Ibrahim El Bakraoui and on-the-run suspect Najim Laachraoui and an unidentified suspect
The Brussels airport suicide bombers forced to leave two explosives at home when their taxi arrived to collect them and only had room for three bags.
Brahim El Bakraoui, on-the-run suspect Najim Laachraoui, along with an unidentified bomber, reacted angrily when the cab driver told them they would have to leave the suitcases behind, it's reported.
The men also wouldn't allow the unwitting driver to load the suitcases - packed with explosives - into the car, according to Belgian media.
Police released CCTV images of the men after the devastating attack left 14 people dead and several injured during yesterday morning's rush hour.
The driver quickly realised he had been the person to collect the trio from the Schaerbeek district of Brussels and take them to Zaventum airport and called police.
He was able to tip officers off about the address where they found chemicals and an Islamic State flag.
They also discovered the two abandoned suitcases, one of which contained a nail bomb, according to VTM News .
VTM journalist Katrien Saelens said: "The trio searched yesterday morning ordered a large taxi for three persons and five pieces of luggage.
"When the taxi arrived, which turned out to be too small for the luggage.
"The three men were not at all happy with it."
The taxi driver remains under armed guard today as he provides vital evidence to the investigation.
Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui exploded their devices in the a packed departure hall on Tuesday morning.
Laachraoui, 24, was reportedly involved in last November’s attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were murdered.
All of the men had, most recently, been on the run for almost ten days following a shoot-out in a terrorist hideout in the Belgian capital.
Yet they still managed to find another address to stay a couple of miles away, where they stored the explosives and guns used in Tuesday’s attacks.
Their brutality led to 34 people being killed and 230 seriously wounded in coordinated atrocities at the airport and a Brussels Metro station.
Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, had used a false name to rent a property in Forest, as well as another in nearby Charleroi, which was also used by the Paris terrorists.
Brahim, who is also in his 20s, was convicted of firing a Kalashnikov at police in 2010, during an armed raid, but was released from prison after a short sentence.
Both brothers were involved in the flourishing arms trade in Brussels, and are known to have supplied weapons to the Paris attackers.
"These suspects were well known to police – everything was being done to try and find them, and the hunt for Laachraoui continues," said a Belgian prosecuting source.
Bombs in the men’s luggage were packed with nails to inflict maximum casualties in the departure hall.
An hour and 11 minutes later, another bomb ripped through an underground Metro train that had stopped in the city’s European Union quarter.
At least 20 people were killed and 130 injured, with dozens suffering burns in an explosion that shook buildings at street level.
source:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... ve-7615090
Login
Register
FAQ
