Brussels terrorist attacks: Multiple blasts rock airport and Maalbeek metro station

We're about to wrap up our live blog for the day, so here's the latest information we have about the attacks on the Belgian capital, Brussels on Tuesday morning, local time:

• At least 34 people have been killed and an estimated 250 injured in blasts at Brussels Airport and at the Maalbeek metro station.
• Police are searching for a man who was captured on CCTV at Brussels Airport and seen running from the scene of the blast. He was photographed with two other men, who are believed to have blown themselves up at the airport.
• A taxi driver who is believed to have unwittingly driven the bombers to the airport led police to a house in Schaerbeek, a northern borough of Brussels, that was believed to be the bombers' base. Police reportedly found a nail bomb, an IS flag and weapons inside the home.
• Islamic State has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
• A planned strike at major Australian airports has been called off in wake of the bombings.

You can follow further developments throughout the day in news stories on our websites.

Airport worker Alphonse Youla was wrapping baggage by the check-in desks at Brussels airport when he heard the explosions.

Within seconds he was wrapping people in his arms instead, carrying the wounded up the escalators to safety. He is being hailed as a hero for saving at least seven people. He also told reporters he had carried five bodies.

Read the full story here.

An image of Alphonse Youla carrying a person from the blast scene has been widely shared. Credit: Twitter: @pouya001

Police in Belgium have released new CCTV images of three men who are suspected of detonating bombs at Brussels Airport.

The men in the black shirts are believed to have died in the suicide blasts, while the third man, wearing white, is thought to have fled the airport and remains at large.

Time in the US has spoken to the photographer who took what has become one of the defining images of the Brussels attacks.

Ketevan Kardava, a special correspondent for the Georgian Public Broadcast network, was at Brussels Airport on Tuesday morning when two explosions tore through the departures hall.

She took a photograph, of a stunned and injured woman in a shredded yellow jacket, which has since been published on front pages across the world.

Kardava told Time that the woman in the yellow jacket was not crying or yelling, but "looking around in fear".

Describing the horror in the airport, she said: "Doors and windows were flying."

"Everything was dust and smoke. Around me there were dozens of people without legs, lying in blood," she said.

"I couldn't believe I still had my legs. I was in a state of shock.

"I wanted to run to a safe place too. But I also wanted to take pictures. As a journalist, it was my duty to take these photos and show the world what was going on. I knew I was the only one at this spot."

The US State Department has issued an alert to its citizens travelling to any European country following the bombings in Brussels.

The travel alert, which expires on June 20, advised US citizens to exercise vigilance when in public places or using public transportation.

"Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation," the alert says.

Belgium's national soccer team cancelled a training session in Brussels on Tuesday in the wake of terror attacks that rocked the capital.

"Our thoughts are with the victims. Football is not important today," the Belgian soccer federation wrote in a Twitter message. "Training cancelled."

Belgium will host Portugal in a friendly next Tuesday at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Belgium captain Vincent Kompany tweeted that he was "horrified and revolted" by the attacks.

All flights to and from Brussels Airport have been cancelled on Wednesday as the police investigation continues into Tuesday's fatal bombing.

The airport said in a statement on its website that it extended its "deepest sympathy to the friends and relatives of the victims of the explosions in the departures hall earlier this morning".

"Following these attacks, there will be no flights into and out of Brussels Airport tomorrow," the statement said.

"Because the forensic investigation is still underway, we currently have no access to the building. It is therefore impossible for us to assess the damage. As a result the airport will remain closed to air traffic tomorrow."

The two blasts tore through the departure hall around 8am on Tuesday, local time.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance says government agencies are doing everything they can to "safeguard commuters", but the community also needs to be vigilant and report any potential security threats.

"The key point is vigilance. We are doing everything we can obviously to safeguard commuters and it is also important that the community work alongside our agencies to report anything that is suspicious.

At this stage there is no change to the national threat level," he said on Wednesday.

Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said his staff were "working very closely" with police transport command to ensure commuter safety was maintained.

Mr Collins, a former chief operating officer of London Underground, said Australia and NSW were "well prepared" from a global perspective in the face of threats from terrorism.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described the bombings in Belgium as "terrible crimes".

He said he had spoken to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton on Tuesday night, and again on Wednesday morning. "There's no intelligence to indicate any links to Victoria," he said.

Mr Andrews said there was also no intelligence to suggest a heightened threat in Victoria "but we remain vigilant".

He said police had the resources, powers and expertise to do everything possible to keep Victorians safe.

Mr Andrews confirmed there would be additional police resources deployed if that was considered appropriate.

One of the first victims identified from the attacks in Belgium is Brussels resident Adelma Tapia Ruiz.

Ms Tapia, 36, was at Brussels Airport with her twin three-year-old daughters on Tuesday morning, local time, when two bombs tore through the departure hall. The family had all planned to travel to New York to visit Ms Tapia's mother.

The New York Times reported that Ms Tapia, who is originally from Peru, died in the blasts, which also injured one of her twin daughters. Her second daughter was not injured, nor was Ms Tapia's husband, who was seeing his family off at the airport.

Ms Tapia's brother, Fernando Tapia Coral, confirmed his sister's death in a post on Facebook, the New York Times reported.

"It's very complicated to describe this pain that we're feeling at home, but as an older brother I know that I have to do it," Mr. Tapia wrote.

"But even more incomprehensible is not being able to be close to her. And this tragedy today touched the doors of my family this morning in the Brussels airport when my sister Adelma Tapia died in the terrorist attack and was not able to survive this jihadist attack that we'll never understand."

Adelma Tapia Ruiz, pictured with her twin daughters, was killed in the Brussels Airport blasts, her brother says.Credit: Facebook