x
Breaking News
More () »

Quinnipiac students recount chaotic escape from airport terrorist attacks, ECSU, and WestConn students in Brussels are safe and accounted for

BRUSSELS — At least 34 people are dead and hundreds more injured following coordinated terrorist attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels. ISIS has clai...

BRUSSELS -- At least 34 people are dead and hundreds more injured following coordinated terrorist attacks in the Belgian capital of Brussels. ISIS has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks.

Several Connecticut college students were in Brussels at the time of the attacks but all are safe and accounted for.

Four Quinnipiac University students are in Belgium, three of whom were in the airport, on their way to an Adele concert in London, when the bombs went off.

The three women, who have been studying in Ireland this semester, were traveling in Brussels while on spring break. Lauren Cleary, 19, of Abington, Mass., Monica Hall, 19, of Sutton, Mass., and Cate Duffy, 19, of Natick, Mass are all sophomores in the occupational therapy program at Quinnipiac University. Here's what they had to say about the ordeal:

Cate Duffy: "We heard one of the bombs go off, but we didn't see it, and we didn't really realize what was going on. And then, before we  could even process it, the second one went off right in front of us. It was huge, it was like a fire explosion, it shook the floor, the ceiling started falling. At that point everyone just started running, screaming. We ended up staying all together and we made it out of the airport and just ran as far as we could. We ran way past the airport, and just tried to get out of there as fast as we could."

Lauren Cleary: "When the first bomb went off we were running. I had my bag with me for probably, like, 5 or 10 seconds of the commotion, and then I tried to stop picking up speed and running, and I realized that that just wouldn't work and my bag wasn't important enough to get my killed so I just dropped them, jumped over them, and we ran out of there as fast as we could."

Monica Hall: "This one guy, he looked at me, and I looked at him like, kind of like, 'come on, help me,' and then Cate kind of waved him down, and then he stopped his car and I went up to him and was like, 'Can you please, please, please take us anywhere that's not near the airport, like, we're so desperate, we really don't want to be here, anywhere's safer than here.' And he said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, get in, get in.' So we all just piled into the back of the car, and he was with his son, and they were both from Belgium, and they were just super, super nice."

The fourth student, who is studying abroad in Belgium this semester, was not at the airport. She is also safe.

Two students from the Connecticut State College and University system are also in Brussels. Both are studying abroad and are safe.

A student from WestConn was also in the airport at the time of the attack, waiting to pick up a friend. She has confirmed with her school that she is safe and with her host family.

Another local student from Eastern is in Brussels.

"The universities are in contact with the student’s individual families and the host organization to monitor the situation," said Director of Communications for CSCU Maribel La Luz.

You can find more on the Brussels attacks here.

Before You Leave, Check This Out