{"id":44183,"date":"2026-03-20T04:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T04:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/44183\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T04:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T04:46:09","slug":"a-decade-after-brussels-attacks-survivor-still-battling-for-health-and-payout-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/44183\/","title":{"rendered":"A decade after Brussels attacks, survivor still battling for health and payout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zaventem, Belgium
Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten years after coordinated bombings killed dozens of people at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station, Walter Benjamin is not only battling the physical and mental impact but is also still fighting for a final payout for his injuries.<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old was in the departure hall when three Islamic State militants arrived at the airport with explosive\u2011filled suitcases on 22nd March, 2016. Two died when their bombs detonated while the third one abandoned his device and fled.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Belgian Walter Benjamin, who lost a leg in the 22nd March, 2016 suicide bomb attack at Brussels Airport, walks in the departures terminal as Belgium prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack, at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, on 10th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters\/Yves Herman<\/p>\n

Just over an hour later, another militant blew himself up at the metro station. The attackers killed 32 people on the day and wounded more than 300, including Benjamin.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy leg was torn off\u2026right in the middle of the knee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Memories of explosions
He can no longer enter the airport without taking medication. He says the attackers destroyed his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can still smell the burned bodies,\u201d Benjamin said. \u201cYou have to realise this was actually a war zone. People died, people were torn apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photographs from the weeks after the attack show him in a hospital bed with his daughter beside him and receiving a visit from King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.<\/p>\n

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A decade on, he continues his recovery, training on a treadmill several times a week.<\/p>\n

As well as the physical rehabilitation, Benjamin is also still dealing with the administrative battle for a full payout. He has a stack of files accumulated over 10 years of dealing with insurers, medical assessments and official procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] still hasn\u2019t been closed to this day,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery day there\u2019s something new that comes up\u2026It weighs heavily on the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Belgian Walter Benjamin, who lost a leg in the 22nd March, 2016 suicide bomb attack at Brussels Airport, ties his shoelaces at his home as Belgium prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack, in Brussels, Belgium, on 10th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters\/Yves Herman<\/p>\n

Ceremonies to mark anniversary
Benjamin has received initial payments from MSIG Europe, the insurer he said was handling his claim with Brussels Airport, but no final settlement has been reached yet.<\/p>\n

MSIG Europe said: \u201cDiscussions are ongoing to reach a final settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

His war pension, given to survivors of the attacks by the Belgian Government, has also been sharply reduced, a decision he is contesting with his lawyer.<\/p>\n

Life4Brussels, an organisation supporting survivors, said Benjamin\u2019s story was not unique. Survivors face a fragmented and exhausting compensation process, causing some to abandon their claims altogether, it said.<\/p>\n

Assuralia, the Belgian professional association of insurance companies, said in a statement that since 2016, insurers had paid out \u20ac88.2 million in compensation to victims.<\/p>\n

A Belgian government spokesperson said the Commission for Financial Aid to Victims has separately so far paid \u20ac7.9 million to survivors of the attacks. Benjamin said he had also received sums from this fund.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Belgian Walter Benjamin, who lost a leg in the 22nd March, 2016, suicide bomb attack at Brussels Airport, looks at a commemorative board for the victims as Belgium prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack, at Brussels airport in Zaventem, Belgium, on 10th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters\/Yves Herman<\/p>\n

Belgium will mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks with a series of ceremonies organised by the airport, Brussels transport operator MIVB and the government, working with victims\u2019 associations, the Prime Minister\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

Six men were convicted for the bombings in July, 2023, and received sentences of 20 years to life.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Additional reporting by CHARLOTTE VAN CAMPENHOUT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zaventem, BelgiumReuters Ten years after coordinated bombings killed dozens of people at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[104],"tags":[211,210,535,25121,25138,25139,25140,25141],"class_list":["post-44183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-belgium","tag-brussels","tag-brussels-airport","tag-brussels-terror-attacks","tag-commission-for-financial-aid-to-victims","tag-life4brussels","tag-maalbeek-metro-station","tag-zaventum"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116259689980478799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}