University of Illinois Says Students Studying in Belgium Are Safe, Told to Shelter in Place After Terror Attacks

Assistant Director for the office, Andrea Bordeau, said there are roughly 50 students and faculty currently involved in two separate foreign study programs in the Brussels area

The University of Illinois said all Illinois students studying abroad in Belgium are safe and accounted for after terror attacks in Brussels left at least 31 people killed and dozens of others wounded Tuesday.

The university’s Office of International Safety and Security issued an International Safety and Security Alert for students abroad in Belgium, asking them to check in with the office and encouraging them to avoid public spaces until it is clear that it is safe to travel.

Assistant Director for the office, Andrea Bordeau, said there are roughly 50 students and faculty currently involved in two separate foreign study programs in the Brussels area.

While all are safe and accounted for, according to Bordeau, they have been given instructions to shelter in place and monitor media and social media for changes in the situation.

There is currently no plan to bring the groups back early, but that could change depending on the conditions, Bordeau said.

At least 31 people were killed and scores wounded Tuesday after two explosions rocked the check-in zone of Brussels Airport and a third blast hit a metro station in the Belgian capital, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack, NBC News reported.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, a news agency affiliated with the group said.

Brussels Mayor Yvan Majeur said an explosion at Maalbeck metro station killed 20 people and, according to the country's ministry of health, 11 people were also killed at the airport. The press office at Brussels fire service said 212 people were injured in the attacks, 30 of them critically burned or wounded. Three American Mormon missionaries were injured in the blasts at the airport, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said. All three are in critical but not life-threatening condition. 

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