Brussels Attack: What We Know About the Americans Injured
— -- At least nine Americans -- including three Mormon missionaries, as well as a U.S. Air Force and his family -- are among the 250 or more injured in today's Brussels attack, according to military and church officials. A French national Mormon was hospitalized as well, church officials said.
The U.S. Air Force member and five of his family members were injured in the attack at the Brussels airport, but their current conditions were not released, according to a statement by the United States European Command. The service member is a lieutenant colonel in the Allied Joint Force Command Brussum, U.S. military officials said.
"We are saddened by today's attacks and extend our sincere condolences to the victims and families of those impacted," Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said in a statement today. "Our priority at this time is the safety and well-being of our airmen and their families."
A military official told ABC News the family was planning to fly to the U.S. when the attack occurred.
The American missionaries were named as Richard Norby, 66, of Lehi, Utah; Joseph Empey, 20, of Santa Clara, Utah; and Mason Wells, 19, of Sandy, Utah, according to a spokesman for the Church of Latter-Day Saints. The men were accompanying a French national, Fanny Rachel Clain 20, of Montelimar, France, as she left to work in Ohio, when they were injured in the attack, Hawkins said.
All four missionaries have been hospitalized but Clain has been reported to have minor injuries, according to a church statement. Clain had reportedly passed through airport security before the attack occurred, according to church officials.
Wells' father, Chad Wells, told ABC News from Utah that his 19-year-old son was in surgery for a foot injury and that he had second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands. His father said this wasn't the first time Mason Wells had been near a terror attack.
Chad Wells explained that his son was in France during the Paris attacks last year and close to the Boston Marathon bombing as well.
Norby's son-in-law told ABC News that Norby had been able to contact his wife and said that he believed he might have a broken leg and ankle. Norby lived in Brussels and is retired, according to his Facebook page.
Empey has been documenting his two-year-long mission online, which was scheduled to be finished in July, according to his online blog. He wrote online that he had been paired up with Wells in February.
"He's a good hard worker so I'm excited for that, it'll be good," Empey wrote online after learning he'd be working with Wells.
There have been at least three reported explosions in two locations in Brussels today resulting in at least 31 deaths, according to authorities. The Brussels airport and a subway station were attacked, and authorities are investigating the incidents. Video from the airport showed hundreds of travelers fleeing the departure hall.
