Loubna Lafquiri, a forgotten victim? Her husband denounces the abandonment of the orphans of March 22

On March 22, 2016, the explosion at the Maelbeek metro station claimed the life of Loubna Lafquiri, a 34-year-old physical education teacher. That morning, the young Moroccan-born mother had dropped off her youngest child at the daycare before taking public transportation to reach her school.

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Her husband, then a metro driver, was on leave. As reported by La Libre, the family man had sensed the tragedy when he noticed that his wife’s last phone connection corresponded exactly to the time of the explosion.

The official confirmation of her death came only forty-eight hours later, prolonging an absolute nightmare. Now 45 years old, the widower confesses to suffering from chronic distress, admitting that he still sometimes sinks: "At times, it’s too heavy, to live and to bear."

The father had to raise his three sons alone, now aged 19, 17 and 12. Each has manifested their suffering differently following this brutal disappearance, between the withdrawal of the eldest, the anger of the second, and the deep sense of abandonment felt by the youngest.

Faced with this deep disarray, the family found itself isolated. As private psychotherapy sessions proved financially inaccessible, Mohamed El Bachiri sought help, only to be brutally refused on the grounds that his sons were not direct victims of the attacks. "We were left to ourselves," he laments.

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Without this institutional support, the man acknowledges that the situation would have turned into a disaster. He was fortunately able to rely on the constant presence and unwavering support of his mother and sisters to stay the course and accompany his children through this ordeal.