The charge that caused the explosion at the Maelbeek metro station on 22 March 2016 was only a quarter of the one at Zaventem airport, but it was just as deadly, an officer of the army’s demining service, SEDEE, said on Monday morning.
The reason for this was the configuration of the site, a confined underground space, Major Maarten Verburg explained at the trial of the Brussels bombing accused.
Sixteen people died on 22 March 2016 as a result of the explosion at Maelbeek, the same number as in the two explosions at Brussels Airport. The number of injuries was also similar. “This is related to the fact that the space was confined,” Major Verburg explained.
He also stressed that the confined space had made it somewhat difficult to do an inventory of the exhibits.
A large number of items potentially important for the investigation were accumulated in a small area, mainly the tracks used by the exploded train and the platforms. For the teams in charge of taking inventory, “it was very complicated to work.”
Working conditions were also difficult because of the situation itself. “It was a descent into hell,” the SEDEE officer testified. “We were going down the stairwell to a horror scene,” he said, adding that the confined space concentrated “a lot of victims, a lot of damage.”
He recalled the noises that had filled the station, including the ringing of many of the victims’ phones, and the smell of burning flesh.
Moreover, the very function of the SEDEE was a psychologically difficult one. “We did not help,” he said. “We were there to see the inevitability of death. It was very tough.”
