The family of one of the victims of the 2016 Brussels Airport attacks has reacted with shock to a report on "forgotten" victims, broadcast on Wednesday evening on RTBF.
The reaction came from relatives of a 23-year-old woman from Kontich who is said to have received euthanasia recently because of unbearable psychological suffering following the attacks.
The woman's family said, through its lawyer, that the RTBF report was done without the knowledge and cooperation of her next of kin. "It seriously raises eyebrows from a deontological and ethical standpoint," the family said in a statement.
"Moreover, this reporting contains several fundamental inaccuracies," it charged.
The family added that it was shocked and asked that her peace and privacy be respected.
At the time of the explosions, the woman in question - then a student of Saint Rita College in Kontich - was about to go on a school trip to Rome. She was reportedly within metres of one of the blasts and was traumatised as a result, although physically unharmed.
Despite psychiatric treatment, the woman, who is said to have been admitted to a psychiatric institution several times before the attacks, received euthanasia in May this year, according to the RTBF.
A neurologist from the Brugman University Hospital who intervened in the case, believes euthanasia should not yet have taken place since there was still a treatment option.
The Antwerp public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the facts, then dismissed the case after concluding that no crime had been committed.
