Police hunt Brussels terror suspect Najim Laachraoui; two suicide bombers named

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said on Tuesday two of the three suspected "probably" committed a suicide attack, while the third is "actively sought".

Earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had identified the 24-year-old as being one of the accomplices of Salah Abdeslam, who was involved in the Paris attacks which killed 130 people at sites including the Bataclan Theatre and Stade de France last November.

The DNA of Laachraoui, who used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal according to French newspaper Liberation, is reported to have been found on "several explosive belts", as well as a house in Auvelais and one in Schaerbeek which was used to prepare explosives and hide Abdeslam, French media reported.

He is believed to have travelled to Hungary last year with Abdeslam, who was arrested in a raid on Friday March 18 in Molenbeek, Brussels.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Monday they are seeking details about Laachraoui, who is said to have travelled to Syria in February 2013.

Update 7.30am: Belgian state broadcaster RTBF has named the two suicide bombers who struck at Zaventem airport as brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, from Brussels.

Citing a police source, RTBF said the brothers were known to the authorities but for involvement in organised crime rather than terrorism.

The development came as the international manhunt for their accomplice continued with police releasing new pictures of the fugitive which show his face up close.

He was named by local media as Najim Laachraoui, 24, who is also suspected of being responsible for the bombs used in the Paris massacre in November after his DNA was found on suicide belts used in the Bataclan Theatre and the Stade de France.

The first victim of the Brussels attacks which killed more than 30 people has been named by officials.

Peruvian Adelma Tapia Ruiz, 37, was killed in the bombings at Zaventem Airport. A spokeswoman for Peru's foreign ministry, Benilda Babylon, named her as the first confirmed victim of the attacks which struck the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

Fernando Tapia, Ms Tapia Ruiz's brother, told Peruvian radio station RPP that his sister was at the airport with her Belgian husband, Christophe Delcambe, and their twin four-year-old daughters Maureen and Alondra, who also have Belgian nationality.

The international manhunt for the Brussels suicide bombers' accomplice is continuing as police released new pictures of the fugitive which show his face up close.

Belgium has entered its second day of mourning over the terror attacks that shook Europe in which 34 people are known to have died and at least 198 were injured.

Others have been reported missing following the double blast in the Belgian capital's Zaventem Airport, and the subsequent explosion on a subway train at Maelbeek Metro station.

Investigators are focusing on whether CCTV footage captured moments before the airport blasts shows two of the three suspected terrorists wearing single gloves to secrete detonators.

Zaventem's mayor said the explosives were stowed in their luggage and detonated before reaching the security gate.

The Belgian police Twitter account for appeals issued the latest photos, which also show close-ups of the two men believed to be dead, and asked for information from anyone who recognised them.

Islamic State (IS) militants have claimed responsibility. A communique that was published in Arabic and French also threatens other countries in the anti-IS coalition with "dark days", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

It came as transport terminals across Europe ramped up security measures following in the wake of the atrocities.

The attacks, condemned as "blind, violent and cowardly" by Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, happened four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, who plotted November's massacre in Paris. Detectives are yet to rule out a direct link between the attacks.

As night fell on Brussels, Mr Michel showed solidarity with Belgians by lighting a candle at a vigil at Place de la Bourse, the city's stock exchange building.

He told a press conference earlier that the atrocities had killed people whose lives "were in full course".

He said: "The lives of people who were most likely travelling without a care in the world, going to work or to school, lives that have been broken by extremism."

King Philippe of Belgium led the calls for calm as Belgian police issued an image of the fugitive, one of three seen pushing luggage trolleys through Zaventem Airport moments before two bombs exploded.

A third bomb was deactivated at the airport hours after the initial attack - which was followed by a bomb blast on a Metro train in the city centre as terrorists inflicted a new outrage on a European capital.

Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said the three people captured on camera at the airport were the chief suspects - with two of them "probably committing a suicide attack".

He said: "The third - dressed in a white jacket and wearing a hat - is actively sought.

"Various departments and experts are currently in various crime scenes. This will take place for many hours to come.

"Due to the violence of the attacks, this investigation is particularly difficult. Various operations are ongoing across the country and several witnesses have been heard."

Images of passengers climbing from a train into a smoke-filled tunnel near Maelbeek station were reminiscent of scenes following the July 7 attacks in London.

Other footage showed the injured from the Metro being treated in the street, while at the airport people could be seen fleeing in terror in video footage shot from an airport car park.

International leaders united in support for Belgium, with David Cameron branding the atrocities "appalling" and US president Barack Obama condemning the "outrageous attacks against innocent people".

French prime minister Manuel Valls said: "We are at war. In Europe we have been subjected to acts of war for several months."