Brussels attacks: 'I was with my friends - boom, in one second, all the people were running away'

People caught up in the airport bombings tell The Independent what happened

Passengers are evacuated from the terminal building after explosions at Brussels Airport in Zaventem near Brussels, (EPA)

Eyewitnesses have described the confusing and horrifying scenes after the two explosions at Zaventem Airport and another at the Maalbeek Metro station in Brussels.

It is feared up to 25 people have been killed, although the death toll is expected to rise.

Belgian authorities have raised the alert level to maximum, diverted all planes, stopped Brussels' Metro service and advised people to stay where they are.

Here, those caught up in the bombings reveal what it was like to be in the middle of a terror attack:

Denise Brandt, from Arizona: "We were in the departures lounge shopping area when we felt it and heard it. We were standing there, you feel it in your whole body.

"I was like 'that's a bomb, lets go'. People were running, we were just standing there and I said 'lets go!'. So we walked and we saw people running, running, and some people crying, so we knew it was a bomb.

"We found a quiet corner to go reflect in. It was very confusing, they don't manage expectations very well. There was some man who was still sleeping.

"We were in Terminal B then we heard later when we were walking up to the Brussels Airlines counter that there was a second explosion. We only heard one"

Andrew Brandt: "We felt like a wave, you feel it in your whole body, it is like you are in water and someone jumps in the water and you feel that wave. I'm former law enforcement, she [Mrs Brandt] lived in Afghanistan for years.

"We wanted to be away from the crowds. They [the airport staff] have no idea what they are doing. They kept saying 'evacuate'. We were telling airport agents what we felt, that it was an explosion, then they were like 'what?'.

"Then we heard 'evacuate, evacuate'. Then they say 'stay where you are'. Then 'evacuate, evacuate'. But everyone is just standing around. They would not let me take my bag. They said you are not going on the tarmac with your bag. The security people had no idea what they were doing. Where the hell were we supposed to go?"

Yassine Amrani, a 38-year-old homeless person who lives in the airport parking area and ran into the check-in area when he heard the bomb. He was covered in blood:

"I was with my friends - boom, in one second, all the people were running away. I went inside and I saw everywhere dead people and fire. There were fire extinguishers and I was looking for people because the ceiling had fallen on the people and you had to search for the people. There were many deaths. People were dying in my arms. One woman had a baby in her arms and kept saying "my baby, my baby". I said "you have your baby in your arms and he is fine."

Daniel Widman, from Sweden, was travelling from Liberia to Sweden:

"I was sleeping and I was woken up by people screaming and running. I just followed the crowd. People came running down the stairs. People left their luggage and kept running. We were given no information in the terminal."

Colonel Chuck Helms, a US military medic:

"I was in 9/11. I was here en route to Kamapla. So I embedded with the Belgian medic and we gave first aid to about 15 people. I was in Terminal T when the bomb went off. We moved here (outside the terminal). I saw the Belgian medic and because I'm a medic I said "can I assist" and he said "come with me".

"We moved in to where the bombing area was and we were able to provide trauma and then we went outside and provided first aid here. There was a lot of people trying to help, you had the police, you had the military, but there was glass everywhere, so most of the military had glass in their hands, they didn't realise that they had injuries because they were trying to assist people.

"There were a lot of tourniquets, a lot of people had put on tourniquets. I didn't see anyone I thought was a complete casualty, I didn't see any deaths."

Josh Balser, from the US:

"In Terminal B this guy came running down the hall. I was in the lounge and heard a rumbling so thought something had hit the airport. Then they told us to go to the end of the hallway and eventually some guy was screaming 'we found guns and ammunition, everybody leave your bags and exit the airport.' He was airport personnel."