31 Dead, Several Injured at Brussels Airport Explosion.

At least two explosions rocked the check-in zone of Brussels Airport Tuesday, killing and wounding "several" people, an official said.

The blasts shook the departures hall shortly after 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET).

Pictures from the scene showed bloodied victims, shattered glass and debris as well smoke pouring from the terminal and passengers fleeing the airport area with their bags.

"There was an explosion … there are several dead and wounded but we can't say how many at this point," a federal police spokesman said.

A security source told NBC News the explosion happened near check-in desk four in Departure Hall 1, which is used by international carriers including American Airlines.

Eyewitness Jef Versele was at the airport heading on a business trip to Rome when he heard an explosion.

"Soon after that one a second one hit — and everything came down," he told NBC News. "There was dust everywhere, glass everywhere there was chaos. There were people on the floor everywhere. The roofing came down. It was quite a mess."

Versele added: "A lot of people were in panic. I saw a lot of blood, a lot of people were injured. People were crying, on the floor, covered by parts of the roofing. I saw a lot of leg injuries, a lot of people couldn't move anymore. There were quite a lot of people injured. In the departure hall — you saw people storming out, it was like run for your life."

A baggage worker, who gave his name as Dirk, told RTL: "Everything is stopped. It is without doubt an attack."

Roads and public transportation leading to the airport were shut and incoming flights were diverted.

The incident comes amid a flurry of counterterrorism activity in the Belgian capital.

A raid in Brussels on Friday captured Europe's most wanted man — Salah Abdeslam, suspected Paris terror attacks plotter and aborted suicide attacker.

Abdeslam was taken into custody along with several others. His capture has been seen as a potential goldmine of information for intelligence services — if he cooperates.

The 26-year-old and several of the attackers who laid siege to Paris on Nov. 13 had ties to Belgium.

On Monday, officials named another potential suspect and asked for public assistance in locating him.

Belgium's foreign minister said following Abdeslam's arrest that the suspect had been planning to "restart something" in Brussels — the suggestion of a new attack that was taken all the more seriously given the large amounts of heavy weapons found during his arrest.