Brussels attacks: 'man in white' had biggest bomb at airport but it did not go off

Najim Laachraoui, left, is still being hunted by police. A man in white is believed to have fled after the bomb attacks at the airport

The prime suspect in the Brussels terror attacks dubbed the 'man in white' is still at large, officials confirmed today.

The man, seen on CCTV at Zaventem airport in a navy hat and white coat, is understood to have had a third bomb which was destined to go off in a series of suicide blasts at the airport.

However it is believed he went on the run after the bomb on his luggage trolley failed to detonate.

The Brussels federal prosecutor confirmed Najim Laachraoui, 24, had not been arrested and was still being hunted by police.

Laachraoui is also suspected to be the bomb-maker behind the attacks in Paris in November.

Belgian authorities have been searching for him since last week as a suspected accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, the Paris attacks prime suspect who was arrested in Belgium on Friday last week.

Police confirmed the 'man in white' at the airport had a bomb, along with two other men dressed in black seen on CCTV moments before the devastating blast, which claimed the lives of 11 people.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29 and another unidentified suicide bomber detonated bombs at the airport

Two of the attackers who targeted the Brussels airport and subway were identified as brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui.

Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, and another as yet unidentified suicide bomber attacked the airport.

Khalid El Bakraoui's bomb went off on a Brussels Metro train as it approached Maalbeek station, killing 20 people.

Officers said the bomb on the trolley of the 'man in white' was the biggest of the three but it did not explode, despite being "unstable," implying the death toll could have been much higher.

Ibrahim El Bakraoui's will was also found in a bin at the terror cell's safehouse, which also held bombmaking chemicals, an AK-47 and an ISIS flag, the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said they found a written testament from Ibrahim which said: “I don't know what to do. I'm in a hurry. I'm on the run. People are looking for me everywhere. And if I give myself up then I'll end up in a cell.”

Mr Van Leeuw told reporters that investigators raided the neighbourhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a bin including a note from Brahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison.

The prosecutor quoted Ibrahim's will as saying: "Always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being looked for everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he waits around any longer he risks ending up next to the person in a cell."

Brussels terror attacks

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At the raid on Tuesday night police also found 15kg of explosives, 150 litres of acetone, 30 litres of oxygenated water, detonators, a suitcase filled with screws and nails as well as materials, such as plastic boxes, needed to pack up the explosives.

The prosecutor also said one person detained in one of the raids remains in custody and is under questioning.

The federal prosecutor revised the death toll down to 32 in the attacks at the airport and metro in Brussels. He said 270 people were injured in attacks at the airport and on the Metro.

Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official said, adding that Laachraoui's DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made.

Abdeslam was arrested on Friday in the Brussels neighbourhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on November 13.

A Belgian official working on the investigation said that it is a "plausible hypothesis" that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack.

French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought - and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Belgium's justice minister said on Wednesday that the country will remain at its highest terrorism threat level until further notice. That level means there is a threat of an "imminent" attack.

The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed on Wednesday.

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