Victims identified, many still missing after attacks on Brussels

BRUSSELS — Names, photos and information about victims of the bomb attacks in Brussels have been circulating as families desperately search for word of their loved ones.

Two Belgians, a Peruvian woman, and an unidentified Moroccan woman were the first to be publicly confirmed dead. A number of missing persons have been announced. An Italian woman is currently being looked at as another victim.

Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 36, was the first to be identified. She was the mother of 3-year-old twin daughters, originally from Peru. She had lived in Brussels for nine years and was traveling to New York to see family when a bomb exploded at the airport.

"It's very complicated to describe this pain that we're feeling at home," her brother wrote on Facebook after her death.

The name of the second victim was released at midday Wednesday as Brussels-born law student Leopold Hecht of Saint-Louis University. The 20-year-old was seriously wounded in the explosion in at Maelbeek Metro Station, and later succumbed to his injuries.

University Rector Pierre Jadoul, wrote in a Facebook post that there were "no words to describe our dismay."

A second Belgian man, Olivier Delespesse, 45, has also been named on Wednesday afternoon. Delespesse reportedly died in the second attack on Maelbeek Metro Station. Delespesse worked for the Federation of Wallonia-Brussels, a government organization that works with French-language speakers in the Brussels area. His death was confirmed in a Facebook post by the organization.
The fourth death, a Moroccan woman, has yet to be identified. The Italian Foreign Ministry has also reported one dead Italian national. Authorities are currently confirming the Italian's identity and are looking at a woman, Patricia Rizzo, 48.

Among the missing are: David Dixon, a computer programmer from Nottingham; Berit Viktorsson, a 64-year-old Belgian woman who was traveling to Sweden; Aline Bastin, 29, a former employee of the European Chemical Industry Council; Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, brother and sister from New York, who were enroute back to the U.S.; and Raghavendran Ganesan, whose brother has been searching for him posting photos on social media. More missing persons have been announced throughout the day.
The number of injured in the twin bombings at Zaventem Airport and the explosion at Maelbeek Metro station rose to 270 wounded on Wednesday, killing at least 30. ISIS claimed responsibility. The country will mourn for three days.

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