MU journalism students in Brussels describe ‘horrific day’

Journalism student Ryan Collins, interning in Brussels, normally gets off the subway one stop away from the site of the terrorist attack at the Maelbeek station, where 20 people were killed and 130 were injured.

The Politico office where he and 15 other students from the University of Missouri journalism school are working is less than 150 meters from the station.

Collins and his tech team had an event scheduled on Tuesday, but “obviously that was not going to happen,” he told The Star by phone from Brussels.

Gareth Harding, journalism lecturer and head of the internship program, tweeted that none of the students was among those killed or injured.

“All 16 of our Missouri journalism students in #Brussels safe and sound,” Harding said. “Our hearts go out to the innocent victims.”

Collins, who is from Springfield and will graduate this spring, said the atmosphere in the Belgian capital and headquarters of the European Union was strange throughout the day.

“Our office is on one of the busiest streets in Brussels and it was shut down today,” he said. “There were constant sirens, pretty much nonstop. You could look out and see no one on the street besides police officers.”

Toward evening the street reopened and people appeared to be able to move about without restriction, he said.

Student Uliana Pavlova told The Star via Facebook that she was in Germany working on a story when the attacks happened. She planned to stay overnight in Cologne because the Brussels train stations were closed most of the day.

“Thank you for your messages of concern,” Pavlova posted to her friends on Facebook. “I just wanted to let you know that I am safe. Please keep Brussels in your prayers. This is a dark moment for all of the civilized society. Terrorism is real and this crime against humanity should not be forgiven.”

Another student, Meg Hilling, tweeted photos of the security situation around the Maelbeek metro station.

“Truly a horrific day,” Hilling wrote.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 10:52 AM with the headline "MU journalism students in Brussels describe ‘horrific day’."