NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo Unharmed After Terrorist Attack at Brussels Airport

Basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo, who was at the airport in Brussels during a series of deadly terrorist attacks Tuesday, took to social media to let everyone know that he is safe and unharmed, ESPN reports. 

According to the report, Mutombo posted two messages to his Facebook, with photos, saying, “I am safe here” and “I am fine.” 

Brussels Airport and a subway station were hit by multiple explosions that claimed the lives of at least 34 people. The Islamic State group has said that it was responsible for the deadly attacks, claiming that its extremists opened fire at the airport while “several of them” detonated suicide belts. 

Mutombo, 49, was an eight-time All-Star during his nearly two-decade-long NBA career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. The star was reportedly in Brussels awaiting a connecting flight to the U.S. after visiting one of his charity foundation’s hospitals in his native Democratic Republic of Congo. 

“I was in lounge and next time I heard people start screaming and everyone start running,” he told CNN. “Because I was napping, and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I thought it was such a joke.

“I just feel bad for the family of the loved ones that lost their lives,” he added. “Feel bad for all the mom and all the citizen that was there that couldn’t run and that couldn’t move. It was very crazy; I feel very bad. So many mom were trying to push their two kids and three kids. You have 1,000 people and everyone running. It was very, very sad.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports, Belgian authorities have uncovered bomb material as well as a farewell message from a suspected suicide bomber Wednesday as details of the alleged attackers started to emerge.

Two brothers—Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui—have been identified as among the attackers who wreaked havoc on the city, which is still trying to make sense of the destruction. The brothers, Belgians with criminal records, were identified as suspects among the three suicide bombers who attacked the metro and airport. 

According to the Post, one person was taken into custody but later released as authorities try to pin down leads for one key suspect currently on the run, a man whose bomb apparently failed to detonate at the airport. 

Officials reportedly found a will in the trash can at Ibrahim el-Bakraoui’s apartment, reading, “I would rather die than end up in a cell.” He is suspected of having been part of the attack at the airport. Bomb-making materials were apparently also found in his apartment, including 33 pounds of TATP (triacetone triperoxide) explosives, nearly 40 gallons of acetone, detonaters and a suitcase full of nails. His younger brother was identified by fingerprints as having been involved in the metro attack. 

The Post notes that Belgian media initially reported that someone had been arrested Wednesday who was suspected of being an Islamic State, or ISIS, bomb-maker. However, those reports were later retracted, and the suspect, 24-year-old Najim Laachroui, is still being sought. Laachroui’s DNA was reportedly found on at least one bomb used in the Paris attacks in November.