pick somebody up, drop somebody off, curb-side check-in there's little security at any major airport and that's where this attack took place. >> k.t., stay with us, but we're approaching the top of the everybody up to speed with what has occurred. >> we begin with this fox news alert. you are watching "fox and friend first this morning. there has been an explosion five possibly coordinated explosions in belgium, specifically the brussel airport has been hit with two explosions there. there are reports of 10 people dead perhaps 11 at this point. at least 30 have been wounded. the airport has been shut down. people have been evacuated and then at the same time or shortly there after three additional explosions at subway sites through out brussel. >> the airports have been shut down. brussel raised the terror alert to the highest possible level. of course heather this comes

four-days after the man behind the terrorist attack salah abdelsalam was captured and a new terrorist suspect has been identified. we want to bring in the former u.s. ambassador to belgium and former assistant fbi director from rome. you were there right in the thick of it. we are showing pictures of people walking in the streets of the metro station. some of them are going about their day as normal. you understand brussel better than most. explain to us what you are seeing and what you saw this morning. >> from pictures going on on one hand the official belgium establishment, there are sirens in eerie direction, ambulances, police cars and unmarmed c mard unmarked cars heading down one way streets looking a little bit like a spanish fire drills. there are army trucks.

i live right downtown right next to the parliament up from the u.s. embassy by about 100 yards. there are army trucks on the corner. there are armed people, since the past attacks but the belgium security force which is the people who would normally guard dignitaries, they are lit lerl he showing force by carrying sei uzis and being on the street. they are focusing on a particular area next to parliament since the news trucks are arriving here. b caution and c madness reacting to what is happening on the metros and not knowing what will happen next. on the other hand, the streets are generally much less crowded than they would be. but those people who are on the streets seem to be used to the

normal kund of army presence recently or matter of factually walking down the street on the way to their offices or on the way to where they are going. if this was in manhattan there would be a i lot of running and hiding right now. the people on the streets other than me in front of my apartment and oh you are townhouse and knows most of the security who around with uz z uzis are goingt their day in what is otherwise chaos. >> let's bring people up to speed. we are getting additional information. this is coming from the associated press. perhaps we saw it in one of the pictures earlier. smoke reported at the brussel metro near the eu. all of the subways have been shut down in addition to will airport being shut down, all of the subways have been shut down as well.

where are you in relation to that location the eu? >> the eu is about a 10-minute walk to my door. i was about to head there because i had meetings at the european parliament. it is a 10 minutes walk. the 1-way street that runs up from the eu to the heart of brussel, my house, that's the 1-way street that cars , emergency weeks have been going wrong way down the street. they are headed to the eu in every direction. >> associated press also reporting there are several injuries reported at that location as well. also the routers reporting that the explosions, as we said killed as many as 10 people, maybe 11 and they were carried out by a suicide bomber. that being reported by routers at this point. >> as we heard earlier, at the brussel airport shots were fired

and words were shouted in arabic before the explosion. obviously we heard of a number of injuries from glass from the windows from falling debris. ambassador, we spoke to you a lot during the paris attacks. this is seeming will be awfto b similar to what we recently experienced. >> it is similar but it is wider and it seems more coordinated. if it is a cell that has been in mow am beak for a long time okay, but it seems to me this may be in the follow up when the attention is directed that brussel may now be the attraction center for the world to kind of make their statement. because i got to belief that tracking the existing people like the belgium security force has been doing 24/7 obviously

before paris and since paris which led to the capture of this week that the noise of a new shell should have been heard. i suspect this is a plot planned elsewhere and coordinated in belgium. also the airport for people from moamb moambique won't be a particular target. neither will the eu that is more international target. i wouldn't be surprised if you find out this was planned coordinated much more internationally obviously in the middle east somewhere. >> this was the united airlines terminal. this happened at 8:00 a.m. american airlines terminal in brussel airport at 8:00 a.m. this morning. the alert level has been reported at the highest level. talk to us about what that means? >> it means the scene you are about to hear, they are on my

corner, you have uniform police army officers with army trucks carrying uzis and people who look like they are in jeans and regular jackets they would guard let's say ambassadors or government officials but never have weapons drawn the guns in their back and they are standing at the corner withzis as well. there are cars, so all of a sudden a car pulls over as an emergency vehicle goes down the wrong way on the street with sirens blasting. the street hasn't been exactly shut. traffic has slowed. looking down the street there is police presence on every corner sort of as they drive down a route and they start shutting all of the streets they have a presence on every corner. people have the good sense not to come to brussel.

>> are you still walking towards the eu center? >> i am probably still 7 or 8 minutes away. i have to tell you there's a lot of media trucks, they have now come here which is the corner where the parliament is and there seems to be reason why some attention is here, because they have all arrived for the shots at the article -- parliament. >> let me tell you this it directly effects you. the belgium crisis center issued a statement telling people to quote stay where you are to not go out on the streets. the transportation commission there, they are saying that all -- the brussel transport authority says they have closed all public transportation in brussel at this hour and the european commission they have locked down their staff after the explosions that we have mentioned going on at the airport possibly one or two

metro stations close to the eastbounding u institution where you are located they confirmed that. spokesmen for officials in the parliament such as the legislature was working normally. people being told by the belgium crisis center to stay where you are and get off the streets. have you ever experienced anything like this? the airport shut down people told to stay inside? >> the last time i felt the sense of what was going on when i was in 9-11 in downtown washington working as a lawyer they said go pick up your kids from school. the last time i felt it and saw it, there's a sense of we don't know what's happening. the news trucks are on the street. the ooze sgli ze-- uzis are out there and security is coming from every way. a lot of those sirens either fire police or a lot of unmarked

cars, actually. >> no one telling you to go back inside or stop. you have been out there on the street for a while. has any one approached you and told you that you need to move away? >> you got to remember all of these guys they road in my car for 40 years, so these are buddies. i am doing fine. they are not allows cars to stop. they are keeping the traffic going. they just kicked the news crew -- just kicked two news crews further on the corner. the police are backing up the news crew. (indiscernible). there seems to be a lot of news reince gathering they are backing them up and kicking them out. the second guys here are all kind of my buddies. i am okay. >> to give you a sense of what we are looking at the photos on the right the brussel airport or the aftermath of the two explosions that happened there around 8:00 a.m. this morning at

the american terminal there on the left near the metro station there were reportedly three explosions. you can see some smoke in the background. we are hearing up to 11 maybe more dead, more than 30 wounded. we have the foreign ambassador in belgium on the line with us who has been on the street there all morning. give us a sense of how the people around you are responding to all of this chaos? >> again the people going to work were generally calm but they are being encouraged to move on. the police are arguing with a bicyclist telling them you can't come down here. they seem to be locking down my area. there was until 10 minutes ago the average people walking to work but the police are not allowing it to happen. i am not sure why they are not letting it happen. i live here.

i am told to go back to my house. they recognized me. but they are now emptying this corner. it's the corner of parliament and where i live. they have now stopped all traffic and they are cleaning out the pedestrians. they are kicking out the press. >> let's let you get your bareings there. we will check back with you. thank you so much. the descriptions you are giving us bring people there to the scene. let's bring everyone up to speed. if you are just joining us, what is happening. there are explosions that rocked the brussel airport two reportedly near the american airlines terminal and the de far tour gate there. some explosions, reportedly 3 that happened at different subway spots at brussel killing at least 11 people at this hour injuring as many as 30 to 35.

injuries reported at the airport and subway terminals. people being told to stay off the streets, stay where you are. the subway station is shut down, the airport is shut down. all transportation in brussel has now come to a stop. >> as you can see in the two pictures on the left that's the tarmac they are lacking at. image that the people have been stuck there. they have been there all morning. can't image the uncertainty they are feeling at this moment. the explosion happened at 8:00 a.m. the busiest time to be coming out. i want to bring in dr. seb bass began goes gorkey. general, thank you so much for being with us. as heather was just mentioning to everyone, what a horrific morning for so many people in brussel and a reminder of what we so recently went through in

paris. >> let's also add one more thing it has been reported now it was a suicide bomber that coming from routers. i do believe belgium authority as well. at least one of the explosions caused by a suicide bomber at the airport. what is your reaction hearing that? as we said obviously bringing to mind what recently happened back in november at the paris attacks? >> yes, it is amazing. i am following this on social media. there's already push back people saying we shouldn't judge too early. the fact is the reality is the reality. synchronized attacks by people using suicide vests is not something done by episcopalians or villes. this is a classic hallmark of a jihad at th jihadi attack. we have seen again and again and again whether it was 9-11, whether it was the attacks of 7-7 in london the madrid

bombings or paris attacks last year, this is how they go to war. they attack the infidel by creating small units that do synchronized attacks. usually a combination of people using automatic weapons, small arms, some people using grenades we saw that in paris and additionally suicide attackers that go to locals that have a heavy concentration of so-called soft targets such as mass transit. there is the airport, this is the subway in brussel. this is clearly the sign, the indication that this is a jihadi attack prosecuted either by isis cells or other jihadists such as al qaeda. >> doctor, we are hearing reports now, we can't confirm this but 13 dead as of now. 35 injured and 10 dead at the metro stations alone as we heard earlier, it was reported that shots were fired at the brussel

airport. words in arabic were then shouted before the explosions. the terror alert is now at the highest alert possible. if you are just tuning in they are saying if you are in brussel stay where you are. transportation has been basically completely shut down at this point, and as you have been talking about, doctor, there has been this hub of terrorism in europe, but specifically in brussel. this has been building up for some time. >> oh, for many, many, many years, for more than a decade. do you remember the shoe bomber richard reid who attempted to execute an attack in december of 2001. he was captured alive. his device failed to detonate and he was connected to jihadi cells in paris and belgium. this is an old story. as the migrant communities grow and grow and grow in europe we find more and more areas where

radicals are recruited, where radicals establish safe houses. think about the fact that the man who was just arrested this week was hiding in brussel in the capital of the eu, of nato for months and months. he didn't go and escape and hide to the middle east. he hid in plain sight in brussel. so that tells you how sufficient fused europe is with this kind of network. >> the apartment he was located was located within eye shot and you could see the apartment where they eventually captured him. also we know his family lived there. his family was less than a football field away the family home from the apartment where he was eventually captured. h his brother also worked and he brew himself up in the paris

attack. that haved just around the corner. he was there in plain sight and they insisted on hiding them. this cell would involve more people than we know. >> they were logistically looking at them in a manner of ways to maintain these people in the heart of europe without being detected by the intelligence district or local police. isis has more than 6,000 westerners who have been recruited to fight for the new caliphate. those individuals weare perfect fodder to be reintegrated in europe adds under ground sweepers and it looks as if this is what they are doing. >> this comes four-days after the salah abdelsalam.

this is all speculation at this point. but it all happened within moments of each other the five attacks this morning. what is your reaction to that? >> this wasn't a spur of the moment response to that event. what could have been part of the attack it sometimes takes months with years to prepare during the intelligence operations with the targets. this is a multiple team attack. it took a long time surveillance. they potentially brought it forward and execute the attack right now in all of europe and america. if it was an american airlines desk it is a message to the

americans as well. >> it was at the departure desk at the american airlines desk. you see a shot outside authorities blocking people from going anywhere in brussel at this point. everyone told to stay. but on the other side you see the dark image, people walking, this is underneath in the metro people walking on the tracks that are filled with smoke. as we have been telling you at least three explosions reported one near the eu there. people obviously trying to get out. that would be a police officer we see there as they make their way out of the subway system. it has been shut down, all of the tracks shut down. all transportation in general has been shut down. just so you know this happening during the morning rush hour. this is in the metro below people walking through, along the tracks to try to get out.

just to ask you again, in reference to the explosive material that was located when they found salah abdelsalam it was called tapt it is a signature used by liisis if thi was used in this instant in the three explosions they will know that fairly quickly, correct? oo the bomb technicians the individuals that would have been deployed would be going southwest to confirm what the major components of these devices were. it is a well-known explosive that can be relatively easily manufactured at home as kt mcfarland mentioned earlier both al qaeda and isis have their own language. isis has a daviq and both of

those contain instructions on how to construct your own explosive devices. if you remember the boston bombings the pressure cooker bills were there from one of the issues of inspire magazine. sounds as if it is not the explosives or some other device. it is often as deadly as something that is commercially available. >> it is reported at least one of the explosions was in fact caused by a suicide bomber. we want to keep you with us but we want to bring everybody up to speed with what is happening with brussel. it is reported at 8 or 9:00 a.m. belgium time twochlt explosions preceding the explosion reports

of shots fired people shouting in arabic. also a report that explosions either simultaneously or shortly there after happened at least three subway sites through out brussel including one located near the eu. and the death toll at 11. >> the chaos outside all morning and on the right as heather was just explaining that is a metro station of authorities walking down underneath on the tracks filled with all of the smoke. we want to bring in kristin fisher with a possible connection to the paris attack. good morning. >> good morning. he was arrested on friday as we have been talking about all morning. obviously it is still way too soon to say if there is any connection but the timing is very suspect. keep in mind two-days ago

belgium foreign minister said that after salah ab salam was captured he said he was ready to start something from brussel. he also said he was planning new operations from brussel and accessed several weapons. authorities did find heavy weapons during his arrest. they found people around him. one of the people was identified yesterday. one of his alleged accomplices in the paris attacks. one of the other alleged accomplices was found later today. the timing is very suspect as the previous guest mentioned there is a distinct possibility that perhaps something had been planned or something had been in the works and obviously it was ex bau tight-- expedited.

>> it is quite unsettling as you were mentioning we are learning more about salah abdelsalam, the man behind the attacks in paris that he was basically in plain sight living near his family went unnoticed for such a long period of time. >> he was the tenth attacker and the only known survivor who was an akty participant in the attack. it was important they captured him alive. he was already giving them a lot of information. you notice the weapons and discovered. also he said there was another attack eminent. and we don't know what he meant by that. he did say there were others involved. what was the reactioning to abdelsalam's arrest in belgium? >> you might think belgium that

abdelsalam was finally caught. it was a disturbing reality he had been hiding for months, that he had been protected by the people in the mow maalbeek neighborhood. it is a well-known long suspected neighborhood harboring terrorist sympathizers. while his arrest was a good thing it laid there potential for more attacks. >> as we heard from one of our previous guests, whether or not this was all planned together it would have taken some time to address whether it had to do with abdelsalam or not. >> abdelsalam captured in m

maalbee keshg. he near the entrance to the subway station not far from the headquarters of the european union rescue workers set up a makeshift treatment center that has been set up in a local pub. this witness describing people in the area as dazed and shocked. police try to set up the security area and core done off the area. earlier we had the images for you have people walking along the tracks. dramatic images as they try to get past the subway station there. all of the subways have been shut down and the airport has been shut down and belgium authorities telling people to stay where you are, stay inside and don't go outside. >> image being in the airport this morning. they reported shots were fired. words in arabic shouted before the explosions and then of course the debris and glass from

the windows there caused a lot of those injuries this morning. we have been showing you video this morning you can see on the left the tar back at the airport. it happened at 8:00 a.m. this morning as american airlines terminal. you can see on the right this is the metro station. this is down below on the tracks filled with smoke, authorities walking there. quite an unsettling morning in brussel. >> unsettling because they don't know what is unfolding at this hour. we have been saying it is possibly tied to isis. there has been no confirm may gos of that. the looking at people running frantically from the airport there, the explosion at least one of them near the american airlines counter in the departure area. hundreds of people were there at the time. the airport itself has like

three different runways in the shape of a z. they have 226 destinations around the world. it handles 23.5 million passengers last year. this is a huge facility all of the destinations 226 at this hour as abby mentioning 8 to 9:00 a.m. ben gull time. a lot of people there waiting for their flight, waiting to de bart. >> this is such a fluid situation. all of this is just reports we cannot confirm any of it. but they are saying stay where you are. basically transportation is shut down at this point, heather. as i said a very fluid situation. we are just getting reports in as they come. this could be going for a little while now. >> we have lots of different

authorities standing by to give us their insight. they can provide us with what has happened and perhaps context. here's what's happening right now if you are just joining us. there have been multiple explosions at least fooi explosions reported in belgium. brussel has been attacked at the airport there at the belgium airport. two explosions reported proceeded by shots being fired, arabic shouting being heard, followed by the two explosions. rat least 23 people now being reported dead. following the two explosions there were three other explosions at subway sites through out brussel including one near the eu. you can see there are 23 reported dead. dozens more injured. five separate blasts that we

know of. at this point reuters reporting at least one of the explosions at the airport was in fact awes kaed by a suicide bomber. >> we want to bring in waleed, our middle east terrorism expert. waleed, to tell people what they are looking at on the right side that is the metro station where authorities are down underneath on the tracks of the train filled with smoke. the left side is near the metro station, i believe. but once again five explosions this morning two at the brussel airport three at the metro station. reports of 23 now dead. waleed, how are you doing? >> let's look at the map. we have had one attack at the international airport. that's one front. one brussel front. it is over there but it is a nightmare in terms of the follow up. verses downtown there were possibly three attacks, one of them is extremely important to

mention it is on the most important avenue in downtown brussel along the european parliament, european union and nato. now the authorities in belgium why we are discussing the route and the saucause of this are discussing the next hours. this is only 10:30 a.m. in brussel. the tie between the first attack at the airport and what happened in downtown tells authorities there could be more. in other pictures they had shown before you can see the units, maybe armed. i am not sure. police. they are being deployed in other areas of brussel to make sure they are stopping potentially other cells from conducting attacks all through out the day. one hour ago reports were talking about one death now 23

dead dozens killed. >> at least 10 in the metro alone. those are just reports at this point. we are being told that through the associated beforpress. you had additional information about some suicide vests being found on the scene? also this operation obviously may be bigger than as it appears. >> that is exactly what i have received from media coverage in europe which is not in north america with afb and routers from that. belgium authorities have discovered and disconnected three suicide deaths. i am saying it is confirmed. we got it through our sources monitoring the situation in brussel and in europe and paris as well. they are launching that particular situation. maybe that could have been the reason for why the operation -- we are saying the operation

could have been bigger. there were three suicide vests. at that specific location of american airlines or at the ticketing counter in that area there are more than 20, 30 people who have been killed. >> just to make sure we understand, you are saying there were three suicide vests located inside the airport near the american airlines terminal where where initial reports say one of the two explosions occurred? is that what you are saying? oo the three suicide vetteses according to the information. i keep under lining this needs to be confirmed. they were exactly at the airport. they did not confirm it was all of the american airlines. we don't have that information. we need more information we need

more information about where the attacks took place. oo this is a very fluid situation while the transportation has been completely shut down. any clues from what you know at this point from what you are seeing? on the left that video is of people running at the brussel airport. any clues as to any similarity between what we saw play out this morning and what happened in paris? >> there are a lot of comparative elements we could play. this is a urban jihadi operation. the goal of it when you look at the map and you remember at times you would see the attention of the attackers targeted the important international airport.

many workers at the union at parliament and nato (indiscernible). it looks like 5th avenue in new york. >> no one has claimed responsibility for this yet. we need to make sure for people at home. following the capture of salah abdelsalam four-days ago on friday. have you heard anything in terms of groups that may be involved in this? oo we would not hear from them now unless somebody goes on twitter soon in the next few hours and plays back. one of the thing jihadis have been doing? they are capturing these videos. the videos we are broadcasting

in the news. i will be part of the video production, local jihadis or others we will keep. these are important moments for them. they are going to show the next traine trainees. we will shut down an airport. >> you are looking at video in the metro station. we have explosions there this morning. it is a fluid situation and everything we are saying is being reported. we have not confirmed anything. waleed, though, give us a sense because it is so fluid and transportation is shut down they are telling people authorities in brussel to stay put where you are. how are authorities handling it do you image at this moment. >> we can image and project first of all this is close to

terror. if you shut down the national airport in brussel the entire flights through out europe, coming from africa and going into north america it is shut down. that is huge what's happening right now. to restore the system in the next few days will be very, very stressful. to shut down the next system they said the systems in through brussel. remember brussel is a fascist between terrorism all of the way from spain to am der sta ster d. if you can image the projection it is going to create. >> we have additional information in terms of the time line involved in this. coming in at this point this from witnesses at the different scenes associated press

reporting the initial explosion occurred at the airport we said that around 8 or 9:00 a.m. local time. 80 minutes later after the airport blast the explosion at the station not far from the headquarters of the european union that's also where a makeshift center has been set up. they have been injured across the five different blasts that occurred through out brussel. also security is tightened at the heireparis airports. we don't have any reports of those here in the united states somebody can see if that has occurred if security is being heightened if there are any alert the here as a result of this. in terms of the time line that has occurred here, waleed, does it kind of fall in line with previous attacks and say a

signature of isis? >> different. the info you have delivered 18 minutes, that's more than an hour. usually the isis typical attacks in you were ban areas in the west but also in the middle east are separated with two minutes, 10 minutes. that's an hour and a half or 18 minutes. that's a long time. this is why, i am assuming, i am projecting belgium and european authorities are now on high, high alert and flying across the city hearing that it is not over that they want to make sure no other attack may occur because of the difference of time that themselves could be prepared when authorities are deployed they will look at what is the weakest point where they are not paying attention to. this is going to be a long day

for them before they close. >> the additional information you brought to us about the three suicide vests that you are hearing from media there and three suicide vests being found at the airport. right now we are going to fox news foreign affairs correspondent benjamin hall in london. >> we are hearing there is stepped up security in london. london is on lock down with heightened security they train station. he is talking about his shock and addness about the event. he will have the highest level response meeting. previously it was lone wolf attacks one man one gun i hadializ

hadialized. they look it up to possibly 10 different attacks simultaneously. that is what they are been preparing for since the belgium attack. london gearing up for multiple attacks and that suggests the growth of the networks that exist around europe. there are no longer individuals radicalized on-line. they are networks that exist for a lot of people. england it is not hard to get weapons. abd abdelsalam talking the way he got weapons. it is is highly likely threat. no specific threat at the moment. but that's what we are hearing at the moment all trains to

brussel have been shut down. the airports are still open. it was a direct attack the american ire lines check in at brussel. airports particularly monitored at the moment. london has not only police at the moment but it has the army that is another result of the paris attacks. they have been waiting ever since another possible attack they have been talking about this, when will it come a few days after abdelsalam was caught. it is a plan in the pipeline. all of the media is saying he was talking to police, he was talking to police and it may have made them move up their own schedule. in particular in london there is heightened alert ondown. he had an emergency meeting with his cobra team this morning in

belgium, the 23 people we know so far>> you also covered the raids in brussel in the wake of the pir ryes attack. you see the explosions that have hard this it morning. what is your response to what we are seeing play out? >> i will tell you one thing that stopped me back then, the sort of hatred towards the states that there is within that city and area where people feel they are not represented they lash out like this. it always felt there were other networks out there. in fact a few days ago after abdelsalam was caught they found another lead suspect. he was recently connected to both the paris attacks and the hideouts. we knew there were other people out there. we knew they existed. belgium long had the problem

with multiculturalism. we don't know any more how many more networks were out there. there was always that warning there were other attacks eminent. we are seeing that now. belgium raised the terror level to the highest. it means they think another attack might be eminent. >> on friday when you were covering this for us not only was he captured and willing to give authorities additional information seemingly mentioning names. there were explosive and other names. >> all we know is there were a lot of weapons and heavy weapons and lots of ammunition. salah abdelsalam fled the area.

there was one nigerian man killed during the shoot-out it was clear abdelsalam had it flee. when he was captured he was unarmed. as we are learning there was another network out there that had access to explosives and weapons. it is easy for them to get weapons and explosives. hydrogen per rocks i'd was used to make the paris bombs. we will wait to see if those were the same. the restrictions on explosives and guns and how that could be stopped because this is clearly going to keep happening. these people are motivated and they want to keep attacking weapons targets and particularly the american airlines target. nothing has been done since paris. four months went biaz they shied out 500 yards from his paris

house and yet they weren't able to foond him. >> we are looking at footage on the left the brussel airport. on the bottom right side you can see the metro station. there were three explosions there. you can see it filled with smoke. as you said the terror alert has been raised to the highest possible level now in brussel. we can say belgium news is reporting 23 dead so far. those are just reports. give us a sense when you compare london to a place like belgium and brussel in terms of combatting terrorism. europe is a hot dead for terrorism. compared to london where does brussel fall when it comes to fighting terrorism? >> london has the 7, 7 bombings. since then very proactive. had a lot of drills. they practice for these events.

there has been a lot of concern in brussel that few steps are taken since the paris attacks. there are soldiers on the streets carrying ue zis. it should be very well protected airports of course once you get in past the check in there is a lot of security but driving up to the street there is very little. we are trying to piece together how they were able to get so close to the check in counters. brussel has been open. brussel and belgium very multi-cultural city. the muslims who have gone to fight in syria and iraq that has always been central to the problems there. london very, very well rehearsed in these cases and we will see them responding very quickly locking down beefing up security. brussel it appears maybe less

so. >> benjamin hall joining us live with the latest what's going on there in the london where security levels have been raised as well. we mentioned paris security levels raised at the airport there. the and to bring everyone up to speed with what is going on, if you were just joining us, you are looking at a map there there are several explosives five that happened across brussel two at the belgium airport, five at different subway sites. reports coming in from sky news that at least 23 people are dead, several dozens of others are injured. we do know we earlier reported that possibly some of the deaths were reported in the metro. belgium authorities are confirming it that is not the c. they are saying at this hour there were no deaths reported at least in the subway station near the eiu. no deaths reported there. in all 23 people dead as a result of these explosions that

occurred at the airport and subway stations. one of those explosions at the airport we have been told associated before hes reuters reporting that was caused by a suicide caused by a suicide bomber. >> this is still obviously a fluid situation. authorities in belgium saying to stay where you are. transportation has pretty much been put to a halt. the airports are closed down. the metro stations are closed down. you see the video that we're showing on the left side. that is the brussels airport. people are running, it's been a long morning for them obviously. it happened at about 8:00 a.m., the busiest time to travel out of the airport. on the right, upper-hand side, you see around the metro station, five reported explosions. we cannot emphasize enough that this is a fluid situation. and reports are just coming in. >> those are live pictures i believe.

i was told a short time ago they were, if they're still live above the map -- they're not live anymore. these are live. this is outside the streets there in brussels. these are image we've been showing you within the subway, underneath, people walking along the tracks there trying to get out. we believe there have been three different explosions at subway sites. and you can see people there, that's from the airport this morni morning, soon after the explosions happened. people running from the scene. the explosions occurring in the departure area near the american airlines ticket counter. and wallid ferris joined us, and his sources saying at least three explosive vests have been located at the airport. >> the big question, who is behind these attacks. that's something we just don't have the answer to right now.

it is all speculation at this point. and it is very fluid. as you've been saying, belgian news has reported 23 dead at this point. more than 30 people have been injured. five explosions altogether this morning. >> wallid said that perhaps, an indicator that this is slightly different than previous terror attacks, specifically the paris attack, is thecitementing in this. initial timing being reported by the belgian media is that the explosions occurred at the airport. then some 80 minutes later, an additional explosion. the first one at the first subway site which was molenbeek, near the e.u. the timing is 8 0 minutes betwen the two. in terms of who is responsible, that would be slightly different than the paris attackers. we do not know who's responsible. no one has claimed

responsibility. of course, it comes on the heels of the arrest of salah abdeslam on friday. he was the 10th attacker. he was captured alive, brought in, and was sharing information with authorities. he said there would be another attack, and this has occurred. >> brussels has raised the terror alert to the highest possible alert. we talked to benjamin hall. london is now under alert, as well. their airports at paris as well, so an unsettling situation across europe. if you're just tuning in, five explosions this morning around 8:00 a.m. two at the brussels airport, international airport. three at the metro stations. belgian news reporting 23 are dead. more than 30 injured. as heather was saying, this comes four days after the terrorists behind the paris attac attacks, salah abdeslam, was captured. one day after a terrorist suspect was identified.

this is still a fluid situation. reports are just coming in. we're giving you all the information as we are getting it. heather, the big question still remains, who is behind these attacks? we're hearing reports of a possible suicide bomber, suicide vest. that is the big question here, that we don't have the answer to at the moment. >> the associated press and reuters reporting that at least one of the explosions there was caused by a suicide bomber, wallid ferris reporting that his sources are saying there were at least three suicide vests located at the airport. we have information just coming in. and i want to read this. it's coming from belgian authorities. it says, "airport and subway blast in brussels have prompted a citywide lockdown after at least," in is saying 13 people. i think we have an updated number, 23 dead. but 13 to 23 people were killed in what officials say are terror

attacks. that would seem obvious to most at home. clearly this is a terror attack. what we don't know is who is ultimately responsible. many injuries as reported. passengers saying there was blood everywhere, injured people and bags everywhere. let's bring in our security analyst k.t. mcfarland. you joined us earlier. we have additional information that's been coming in. what's your take on what's occurred with the new information? >> reporter: heather, i think that the main points this is the new europe. europe has 5,000 people that have gone from the terrorist training camps to europe. that's not me saying that, that's the head of the european police. and those 5,000 are in all of the european countries, particularly in belgium. this is not the last terrorist attack we're going to see, and they always go after civilian

targets. >> the big question, who is behind the attacks? we just don't have the answer to that. you hear about five explosions happening very close to each other. two at the international airport in brussels there, and three at the metro station. what's going through your mind at this moment? >> it's always civilian targets, soft civilian targets. why is that? military targets are hardened. it's harder for terrorists to get into those areas, police stations, military bases. they go to the large public gatherings. they go to subway stations, airports, they go to train stations. the symbolism of belgium, head of the european union is right there. the headquarters of nato forces. it's the headquarters of american forces in europe. if you're going to strike something, this is like striking the mall between the white house and the capitol building. they have now struck at the heart of europe. >> at least 226 destinations all around the world handled by this

airport alone. 23.5 million passengers last year. this coming early this morning when people would be starting their day, traveling in the departure area specifically, associated press saying near the american airlines desk. >> this just from n from the associated press, many injuries reported. a passenger just arriving described a scene with "blood everywhere, injured people, bags everywhere." european officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that the islamic state was actively preparing. that from the associated press. all reports as of now. your response? >> this is showing the new vulnerability. whenever you go to the airport, you go through screening and detection on your way to the gate. you're not allowed to the gate unless you're a passenger. where this happened is before the gate. this is as a car pulls up. this is where you get your tickets. there's rarely security at any

airport in the world at that point. that's the soft underbelly of the transportation system and why they've struck there. it's going to have every airport in the country reassessing its security procedures. not only in the u.s. but the world. >> we're hearing paris is up there, level of security, also london. we have benjamin hall there. k.t., we got salah abdeslam on friday. he was sharing information saying that there would be another attack, saying that the terrorist cell was larger than we knew. then this occurred. do you believe that this was possibly the attack that he was talking about? and how do we fight back? >> well, it may be this attack, but there may be a number of attacks in the pipeline. there were large arsenals of weapons, home made weapons as well as sophisticated street urban welfare weapons. you don't know if it was this one and this one may be the calendar got moved ahead, maybe this are others to occur. how do you deal with this? the european police forces and intelligence services are not

adequate to deal with it. that's why it's such a significant problem. this takes not just thousands but tens of thousands of law enforcement and intelligence in europe to deal with it. and that overwhelms the security forces of the -- the fbi equivalent, police equivalent, and all of these european countries. the other problem is that once you -- because of the european union rules, once you have a european passport, once you're in europe, you don't even need a passport. once you've gotten into italy, greece, once you've gotten into belgium, france, you can travel freely. open borders. >> thank you very much for joining us this morning. we certainly appreciate your expertise. i'm sure that you'll be joining "fox & friends" coming up next. thank you. >> thank you. once again, for everyone, multiple explosions, at least five reported in brussels. belgian authorities on alert. at least 23 people dead, and dozens of others are injured. the explosions began at the airport, two, and three in the subway stations. >> a fluid situation as you know

well. this coverage will continue on with "fox & friends." that continue right now. >> yes, thank you for joining us. a fox news alert this morning. chaos in belgium. an entire city in lockdown. a possible homicide bomb rips through the brussels airport. just an hour later, explosions rock at least two metro stations near e.u. headquarters. local news stations saying 13 people are dead. smoke seen rising from the terminal as terrified passengers are running from the fallen glass and from falling ceiling tiles. airport officials say the blast might have happened near the american airlines departure area. however, the airline is saying that might not be the