An American considers himself "lucky" to have survived back-to-back fatal explosions that ripped through the departures hall at Brussels airport Tuesday.
"There is something called faith or blind luck and I guess we had it today," Paul Doty says.
The 51-year-old lives with his wife Tania Hoffman, 47, about 50 miles outside of Brussels.
On Tuesday, they traveled to the busy airport en route to meet Doty's new grandson in the states.
They were especially looking forward to treating themselves to a cup of coffee at the airport before their departure.
"We live in an area where the nearest Starbucks is 20 kilometers from us so we usually stop at Starbucks before heading to security," he says. "My wife had to use the restroom and of course I'm thinking, 'You couldn't wait a few minutes?'"
It was then, when Hoffmann was in the restroom, the bombs detonated, feet from where the two checked into their flight moments earlier and feet from where the two were headed.
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"The first bomb went off, I knew it was a bomb, but it was in my mind quite a distance away," he says. "The explosion was like a boom."
Within seconds, a second explosion.
"This explosion was much more powerful and forced me to take a couple of steps to maintain balance," Doty says.
His first thoughts were with his wife who remained in the restroom during the explosions.
He called out to her several times. She couldn't hear him, she didn't reply.
Hoffmann was surrounded by ceiling tiles and rubble that now covered the floors. She crawled over the debris-scattered floor and met her husband.
Dust made it hard for Doty to see; his eardrum ruptured, he was stumbling.
"I've seen ladies with shards of glass buried in their hands," Doty says. There was blood on the floor and other people were visibly injured, including children.
After the initial panic, he says people worked together to exit the airport calmly and safely.
"Someone" opened up the security screening stations and helped clear the way for travelers to leave, he says. He could see a number of military and police with their guns drawn heading in the direction of the explosions.
"The people that remained were very cooperative and moved to the side and let them through," he says. "Most placed their hands on their heads, if able."
He describes a scene of solidarity between survivors outside the airport's building. Strangers helped each other with heavy luggage, shared phones to call loved ones and handed out water to those who needed it.
"The stars aligned and it certainly could have been us," Doty says.
In all, at least 31 were killed and more than 200 were injured in the blasts at the check-in zone of the Brussels airport and in a third bombing at Belgian capital's subway.
