Local connections to Brussels attack
Explosions that ripped through the Belgian capital of Brussels on Tuesday killed at least 34 people and wounded about 170 more. The terror group ISIS said that its “fighters” were responsible for the terrorist attack.
There were explosions in the departure hall of Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium. A Colorado College graduate lives in Brussels, near the airport. He is OK.
“I live about 4 or 5 kilometers from Brussels Airport; it’s a little bit northeast of the city,” said Domenico Giustino.
Giustino lives even closer to the subway station, where the second attack was. He was at a bakery the time of the explosion but rides the metro often.
“I go to school and it got closed. I had some friends in school, they got stuck there because the metros were closed,” said Giustino.
Giustino worries about his classmates.
“It’s completely possible that I go back to school and realize that someone was on the metro that exploded, which is just a kilometer away,” he said.
Giustino graduated from Colorado College in 1998 in the Department of Theater and Dance. He is a freelance dancer, performer, and choreographer.
After College, Giustino trained at the Moscow Art Theater and the Conservatory of Opera and Ballet in St. Petersburg. He finished his dance training at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. He’s created various work in Iran, Portugal, Spain, France, Norway and Mexico.
Giustino has never experienced an attack before, but says he wasn’t surprised.
“After 9-11, you just accept that it can happen anywhere. It’s not so unthinkable.”
Belgium officials say two men in black were responsible for the airport attack. While they look for more suspects, Giustino says much of the city remains on alert.
“I’ve been basically inside, all I heard was ambulance and police and the military passing.”
A spokesperson for Colorado College said they do not have any students currently studying abroad in Brussels or Belgium.
There are also no students from University of Colorado Colorado Springs studying abroad in Belgium this semester. Dr. Mandy Hansen, the Director of Global Engagement at UCCS told KRDO news that the school did send letters to their students studying abroad in Europe to inform them and check in on them.
Pikes Peaks Community College does not have any students studying abroad this semester.
