Comment by Pyxl101 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Pyxl101 | Hacker News Reader

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Update: there are now reports of additional explosions, in a metro station. Brussel Central is now allegedly being evacuated. https://www.reddit.com/live/wmk50bsm9vt3 https://t.co/XewNyQhQS2

From Sky News Live: "Train staff say explosion has occurred at metro station in Brussels near the European Union headquarters" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y60wDzZt8yg

From the pictures, it looks like terrorism. Accidental explosions in the check-in lobby of an airport seem unlikely. Photos: https://www.rt.com/news/336519-explosions-hit-brussels-airpo... or http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160322_02196237

Government source [1] allegedly confirms it is a terrorist attack. Translation on Reddit [2]. 11 dead, 25 wounded. "Multiple witnesses confirm there were first shots fired, then some Arabic yelling and then 2 explosions"

From RT: https://www.rt.com/news/336519-explosions-hit-brussels-airpo...

> Reports also suggest that first there was a shot fired in the departure hall, then something was called out in Arabic, and only afterward, two explosions rocked the facility.

[1] http://www.demorgen.be/binnenland/live-zeker-een-dode-bij-ex... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/4bgfx5/reports_o...

UPDATE2: According to MIVB (responsable for the metro), not confirmed: 15 dead, 10 heavy wounded, 45 wounded.

UPDATE: Fire department is now reporting 10 dead in the metro. No additional details for the airport.

The Dutch (Flemish) news just confirmed. Currently 13 dead in Airport, 35 heavy wounded. In the metro, 0 dead. There are wounded but unclear how many.

Belgium is shutting down: No trains or metro in Brussels. Government asking people to stay where they are in the whole country.

Police is looking for suspicious packets. The prime minister is scheduled to give an update in 20 minutes (around 11:30 AM Brussels time)

Sometimes the state of the current media is a bit saddening. One source says 11 dead, 25 wounded. Another source at the same time, the federal police nota bene, says 1 dead. Wouldn't it be better, in cases like these, if only things were reported which are actually confirmed by multiple sources? Not that it matters much in the end, but still. I was at Zaventem just two days ago. Feels weird.

RT is now reporting 17 dead: https://www.rt.com/news/336519-explosions-hit-brussels-airpo...

I take it as people relaying the information that they have, along with the degree of confidence of that information. The reporting of unconfirmed information eventually consolidates and a consensus is reached about the truth.

Some of the info also changes moment to moment. Maybe the number was 10 a while ago, but it's 17 now. Reporters don't want to wait a day until police have comprehensively examined the crime scene - they want to report their best guess as breaking news now, since people are curious and want to know what's going on.

The question is, how does unconfirmed information go to becoming confirmed? When several people report it. If I see an explosion first hand and post about it to Twitter, then that's unconfirmed, but people will share it to spread the word, at which point it will either be corroborated or people will call it out as a hoax. Somewhere along the line, a news organization investigates the sources and "calls it" as confirmed, but they're using their judgment in relying on sources they have access to, either from their own reporters on the ground, or from other news agencies, or from enough people reporting the same thing to take the accounts as trustworthy. There may be no "confirmed" death toll until days for now - until after the disposition of all injured victims is known, for example. (Some may day later in the hospital.)

Many different news organizations as well as bloggers and other people all posting their best guess as to what's going on. I have no first hand information about what's happening, so I'm personally trying to relay all the information I have by linking to it directly.

Different agencies, different sources police doesn't release information which was unchecked while the media can get info from some paramedic during the chaos.

Mass casualty events can't be accurately covered initially because well literally something exploded, body counts tend to go up, with these kinds of events if they go down towards the end it's usually because of the nature of the incident where body parts were assigned to more bodies than they actually came from.

This isn't some investigative reporting there isn't an easy way to confirm it with multiple sources and technically the official death count will only be released after a doctor signed off the death certificates which in this case might take some time because bodies have to be pieced together and identified.

> One source says 11 dead, 25 wounded. Another source at the same time, the federal police nota bene, says 1 dead.

Maybe for media to report somebody as dead it is sufficient that this person is indeed dead, while for the police it takes some procedures as they are held to a higher standard?

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