U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday Americans were among the more than 30 people killed in Brussels in Tuesday’s attacks.
“The United States, I want you to know, is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those who have been very cruelly taken from us, including Americans, and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks,” he said in Brussels alongside Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister.
An unnamed U.S. official later said two Americans had been killed. Neither has been publicly identified. Before Friday, those victims of the attacks who have been named so far weren’t identified by embassies or government officials, but by families on social media.
Victims from more than 40 countries are among the dead and injured, which could account for why governments have been so slow in naming the dead publicly. Two forensic teams have been working to identify the bodies. The nail-packed bomb blasts and damage to the bodies may also have made identifying the dead more difficult.
So far, eight people have been publicly identified.
Adelma Tapia Ruiz’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post by her brother. She was a 36-year-old mother of twin daughters, originally from Peru, who had lived in Brussels nearly nine years.