Watch CBS News

Missionary from Utah hurt in Brussels attacks in coma

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah missionary seriously wounded during a bombing at the Brussels airport is now in a medically induced coma.

Utah missionary Richard Norby
Utah missionary Richard Norby

The family of 66-year-old Richard Norby of Lehi said in a statement issued by the Mormon church Wednesday that shrapnel caused severe trauma to the man's lower leg and he also suffered second-degree burns to his head and neck.

Following a lengthy surgery, he is now expected to stay in a medically induced coma for a few days.

His family said a lengthy recovery is expected.

His wife, Pamela Norby, wasn't at the airport when the explosions happened Tuesday.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said 20-year-old Joseph Empey of Santa Clara and 19-year-old Mason Wells of Sandy were also seriously wounded but have been awake and spoken to their families.

Mounting evidence that Brussels and Paris attacks could be connected 02:06

At least 31 people were killed, including three suicide bombers, and more than 270 were wounded in the attacks claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

The State Department said it does not know of any Americans killed in the Brussels attacks but approximately a dozen U.S. citizens were injured.

A U.S. Air Force service member and members of his family were wounded, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. Some of them were in serious condition.

In Connecticut, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes' office confirmed that one of the state's residents was hurt, CBS Hartford affiliate WFSB-TV reports. Himes' office didn't release the person's name but described their injuries as not life threatening.

Also among the injured was 37-year-old Sebastien Bellin. Of all the images of carnage in Brussels, perhaps none is more striking than one of Bellin lying in a pool of blood at the airport.

Bellin played for two NCAA basketball teams in the U.S. and was a star center for a pro team in Belgium. He was headed home to Michigan, where he lives with his wife and children.

U.S. boosts airport, transit patrols after Brussels attacks 01:39

Bellin's father, Jean, said on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday that after calling several hospitals in Brussels he was able to speak with his injured son.

"I think he was speaking very weakly and very slowly because he was in shock," Jean Bellin said. "He saw people dead and people dying. I'm sure that will stay with him for the rest of his life."

U.S. officials told The Associated Press a small number of State Department personnel in Brussels were unaccounted for. The officials said they don't know the status of the Americans and were trying to find out. The officials weren't authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity.

A brother and sister who had been living in New York were among the Americans missing following the attacks, Dutch media reported.

Morell on Brussels manhunt for suspected bomb-maker 02:38

Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski have family in the Netherlands but have been living in New York, CBS New York reports.

Many have been posting about their disappearance on social media.

They were reportedly on the phone with their mother when she heard an explosion and the phone call disconnected.

A couple with ties to Kentucky, Stephanie and Justin Shults, was also missing. Betty Gragg-Newsome told CBS Lexington affiliate WKYT-TV that her sister, Carolyn Moore, was in Brussels to visit them.

Moore was with Stephanie, her daughter, when the bombs went off at the airport.

"My husband called the American Embassy, and they're looking for her too," Moore told Belgian broadcaster RTL.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.