Former Oakland University Basketball Player Injured In Brussels Attacks
ROCHESTER, Mich. (CBSDetroit/AP) - A former Oakland University basketball player was injured during terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday.
In a tweet, OU head men's basketball coach Greg Kampe said Sebastien "Seb" Bellin had been hurt in a bombing and was going into a second surgery. He asked for prayers.
According to Kampe, Bellin was standing at the ticket counter at the Brussels airpost when a bomb exploded just 100 yards away -- driving shrapnel into his body.
My ex player Seb Bellin was injured in the Brussels bombing. Going for second surgery. Please pray for Seb.
— Greg Kampe (@KampeOU) March 22, 2016
"When it happens close to home like this you just realize how senseless this kind of stuff is ... and our prayers go out to him and his family and we just hope that if we get enough people praying that good things are going to happen for him," Kampe told WWJ.
Photos tweeted by others appeared to show an injured Bellin, lying on the ground.
Former Oakland basketball player Sebastien Bellin, photographed at Brussels bombing scene. pic.twitter.com/3ZAVASKnH0
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) March 22, 2016
Bellin who played for OU in the 90's, has a wife and two kids in west Michigan, he plays professionally in Belgium and also works for a basketball agency there.
The Islamic State group (commonly known as ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the explosions at the Brussels airport and on its subway, saying its extremists opened fire in the airport and "several of them" detonated suicide belts. The posting by the group's news agency said the attack was in response to Belgium's support of the international coalition arrayed against it.
Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and European railways froze links with Brussels on Tuesday, after the series of bomb blasts killed around 35 people, sparking a broad security response.
Meantime, Andy Arena, the former FBI Special Agent in Charge in Detroit, says security is always tight at airports in this country — but you may see stepped up measures in the days to come.
He said sometimes people become too accustomed to hearing about terrorist attacks, and Americans should remain vigilant.
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