Mutual assistance networks have been established in Brussels. People, including representatives of the local Armenian community are actively communicating on social networks, helping each other out, and those with automobiles are transporting pedestrians.

This is what representatives of the Armenian community Marine Stepanyan told “Armenpress” and went into details. She said that people have problems with transportation since there is no public transportation, they mark their locations in groups created on social networks and they receive help from people who have cars and travel in the same direction.

Stepanyan noted that the Armenian community has information about all the Armenian families that they have gotten to know during the years in Belgium. “Everyone established contacts with each other and assured that everything was fine throughout the day. They were even able to help each other out to transport their children in the higher grades.

Parents were able to pick up their juniors and kindergarten children only with identification documents, but the principle of helping each other helped the parents transport their children from high school. One of the parents picked up some children from school and kept them at her house until the children’s parents got off work and could take their children,” Marine Stepanyan said. Schools distributed food to the children since they had not been allowed to leave the premises during any break. In any case, according to Stepanyan, in spite of the fear, the three-day mourning declared in Belgium and the feeling of sadness and regret, the Armenian community isn’t panicking. People know that life goes on, everything will be on track again and schools and kindergartens will operate.

The members of the Armenian community are ready to stand united and keep calm and be broadminded as law-abiding citizens of Belgium. On the morning of 22 March, two explosions took place at the airport in Brussels. The country’s authorities believe one of the explosive devices could have been operated by a suicide bomber. The third explosion took place in a metro wagon at Malbec metro station. The terrorist acts killed at least 34 and injured almost 200.

Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel has viewed the explosions as terrorist acts. ISIS has taken responsibility for the terrorist acts that took place in Brussels. Belgium is in the fourth level of panic. Public transportation has been stopped, and the airport in Brussels has cancelled all flights. The Embassy of Armenia in the Kingdom of Belgium and the Belgian side are clarifying whether there are citizens of the Republic of Armenia or people of Armenian descent among the victims and injured.

The Embassy is constantly in contact with the relevant circles of the Belgian government to clarify the situation in the future.