Hall of Fame basketball player Dikembe Mutombo was at the airport in Brussels during the series of deadly terrorist attacks Tuesday against the Belgian capital but announced that he is safe and unharmed.
Mutombo posted two messages and photos on his Facebook page, saying, "I am safe here" and "I am fine."
Dikembe Mutombo
<a class="_39g5" href="https://www.facebook.com/dikembe.mutombo.12/posts/10153526444116464" target="_blank"><abbr title="Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:52am" data-utime="1458647551" class="timestamp">8 hours ago</abbr>
Thank you everyone. I am safe here. God is good.
Dikembe Mutombo
<a class="_39g5" href="https://www.facebook.com/dikembe.mutombo.12/posts/10153526191466464" target="_blank"><abbr title="Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 5:17am" data-utime="1458638273" class="timestamp">11 hours ago</abbr>
God is good. I am in Brussels Airport with this craziness. I am fine.
His charitable foundation also posted a message on Facebook, saying that the former NBA star "was thankfully unharmed."
Multiple explosions rocked the Zaventem international airport and the Brussels subway system, killing at least 31 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a posting from the group's Amaq news agency that its extremists opened fire in the airport and "several of them" detonated suicide belts.
Mutombo, 49, was an eight-time All-Star during his 19-year NBA career and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
Belgium's national soccer team responded to the attacks by canceling its scheduled practice session Tuesday.
The Royal Belgian Football Federation posted an announcement on the Twitter account for its national team, saying, "Football is not important today" and that "our thoughts are with the victims."
BelgianRedDevils ✔ @BelRedDevils
#tousensemble, our thoughts are with the victims. Football is not important today. Training cancelled.
<time class="dt-updated" datetime="2016-03-22T09:02:03+0000" pubdate="" title="Time posted: 22 Mar 2016, 09:02:03 (UTC)">5:02 AM - 22 Mar 2016
</time>Belgium will host Portugal in a friendly match on March 29 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. The game is scheduled as a warm-up for both teams ahead of this year's European Championship in France.
The Portuguese soccer federation said it was in contact with Belgian authorities about security arrangements for the match.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the explosions are a reminder that a "very high security level" will be required during the European Championship. He said the measures taken to guarantee "collective security" at the June 10-July 10 tournament will include the mobilization of specially trained emergency staff, police forces and firefighters.
The two airport blasts, at least one of them blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and as travelers streamed out of the smoky building.
About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate the train through darkened tunnels to safety.
"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."
Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were for most of the workday.
Sebastien Bellin, a European professional basketball player who played collegiately in the United States, was injured in one of the airport explosions, according to his former team in Belgium.
One international soccer player was at the Zaventem airport when the explosions were reported. Norwich forward Dieumerci Mbokani, who is from Congo, was "unharmed but shaken by the tragic events," the English club said in a statement.
Mbokani was visiting family in Brussels, where he played for Anderlecht for two seasons until 2013.
Belgian golfer Thomas Pieters lives in Antwerp, Belgium, and is playing at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship in Austin, Texas.
"I woke up at 6 a.m. and my phone was just buzzing,'' Pieters said during a news conference Tuesday. "Everybody was asking me, 'Is your family OK?' And I kind of knew what was going on, so I opened the news sites and it was just one of the worst days to wake up.
"Even when it happened in Paris, it's close, but it's not right near your people. And now it happens to somewhere I go almost every time I fly out. That's where I go. It's shocking to see so many images and the videos. It's a sad day.''
The explosions occurred four days after Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, was arrested in Brussels.
ESPN FC, ABC News, ESPN's Bob Harig and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mutombo posted two messages and photos on his Facebook page, saying, "I am safe here" and "I am fine."
Dikembe Mutombo
<a class="_39g5" href="https://www.facebook.com/dikembe.mutombo.12/posts/10153526444116464" target="_blank"><abbr title="Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:52am" data-utime="1458647551" class="timestamp">8 hours ago</abbr>
Thank you everyone. I am safe here. God is good.
Dikembe Mutombo
<a class="_39g5" href="https://www.facebook.com/dikembe.mutombo.12/posts/10153526191466464" target="_blank"><abbr title="Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 5:17am" data-utime="1458638273" class="timestamp">11 hours ago</abbr>
God is good. I am in Brussels Airport with this craziness. I am fine.
His charitable foundation also posted a message on Facebook, saying that the former NBA star "was thankfully unharmed."
Multiple explosions rocked the Zaventem international airport and the Brussels subway system, killing at least 31 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a posting from the group's Amaq news agency that its extremists opened fire in the airport and "several of them" detonated suicide belts.
Mutombo, 49, was an eight-time All-Star during his 19-year NBA career and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
Belgium's national soccer team responded to the attacks by canceling its scheduled practice session Tuesday.
The Royal Belgian Football Federation posted an announcement on the Twitter account for its national team, saying, "Football is not important today" and that "our thoughts are with the victims."
BelgianRedDevils ✔ @BelRedDevils #tousensemble, our thoughts are with the victims. Football is not important today. Training cancelled.
<time class="dt-updated" datetime="2016-03-22T09:02:03+0000" pubdate="" title="Time posted: 22 Mar 2016, 09:02:03 (UTC)">5:02 AM - 22 Mar 2016
</time>Belgium will host Portugal in a friendly match on March 29 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. The game is scheduled as a warm-up for both teams ahead of this year's European Championship in France.
The Portuguese soccer federation said it was in contact with Belgian authorities about security arrangements for the match.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the explosions are a reminder that a "very high security level" will be required during the European Championship. He said the measures taken to guarantee "collective security" at the June 10-July 10 tournament will include the mobilization of specially trained emergency staff, police forces and firefighters.
The two airport blasts, at least one of them blamed on a suicide bomber, left behind a chaotic scene of splattered blood in the departure lounge as windows were blown out, ceilings collapsed and as travelers streamed out of the smoky building.
About an hour later, another bomb exploded on a rush-hour subway train near the European Union headquarters. Terrified passengers had to evacuate the train through darkened tunnels to safety.
"What we feared has happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. "In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity."
Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were for most of the workday.
Sebastien Bellin, a European professional basketball player who played collegiately in the United States, was injured in one of the airport explosions, according to his former team in Belgium.
One international soccer player was at the Zaventem airport when the explosions were reported. Norwich forward Dieumerci Mbokani, who is from Congo, was "unharmed but shaken by the tragic events," the English club said in a statement.
Mbokani was visiting family in Brussels, where he played for Anderlecht for two seasons until 2013.
Belgian golfer Thomas Pieters lives in Antwerp, Belgium, and is playing at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship in Austin, Texas.
"I woke up at 6 a.m. and my phone was just buzzing,'' Pieters said during a news conference Tuesday. "Everybody was asking me, 'Is your family OK?' And I kind of knew what was going on, so I opened the news sites and it was just one of the worst days to wake up.
"Even when it happened in Paris, it's close, but it's not right near your people. And now it happens to somewhere I go almost every time I fly out. That's where I go. It's shocking to see so many images and the videos. It's a sad day.''
The explosions occurred four days after Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, was arrested in Brussels.
ESPN FC, ABC News, ESPN's Bob Harig and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
