Belgian officials are struggling to right their increasingly troubled investigation into last week’s terrorist bombings and sought more help from the United States on Tuesday, a day after releasing their only suspect charged with direct involvement in the Brussels attacks, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Police continued their efforts to identify a third terrorist attacker shown in a surveillance video taken moments before the Brussels attacks that killed at least 32 people.
On Tuesday, officials revised the death toll from the attacks on the city’s airport and a subway station from the 35 victims cited the day before, saying that three had been double counted. They added that all 32—including 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners—had been identified. Officials warn, however, that the toll could still mount given that more than half of the 94 people who remain hospitalized are in intensive care.
Authorities are looking at least at three possible suspects who could be involved in the attacks, according to people briefed on the investigation. But the officials said investigators don’t yet know the level of involvement of the suspects or their precise connection to the plot.
Investigators had originally suspected a Brussels man, Fayçal Cheffou, was the third airport attacker seen on a surveillance video. But on Monday, authorities released Mr. Cheffou, who had been charged in connection with the terror attacks, after failing to find evidence linking him to the attacks.
As criticism of Belgium’s handling of the inquiry grows, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has stepped up its involvement, sending additional agents to Brussels, officials said.
While Belgium maintained its current terror level—one notch below the highest level—its federal parliament put additional security measures in place. Officials didn’t describe the extra measures, but said that the new steps effectively raised the alert level to the highest level at the federal parliament’s building.
The FBI began its own inquiry as soon as it emerged that Americans were killed in the Brussels attacks. However, in recent days, the bureau has stepped up its investigatory efforts as Belgium has begun sharing more information, according to United States officials.
Belgians have shared with the FBI investigator copies of laptop hard drives and mobile phones that have been seized in recent police raids, officials said.
“They are more open to assistance; they are starting to understand they need help,” a United States official told the Wall Street Journal.