Key suspects convicted in Brussels 2016 attack trial

A court in Brussels has convicted eight men over terror attacks in March 2016 at the city's Zaventem airport and nearby Maelbeek metro station that together claimed the lives of 35 people.

Six of the eight were found guilty of "murder linked to terrorism" after an eight-month trial described as Belgium's largest ever. In total, 10 defendants were on trial.

The guilty verdicts followed 19 days of jury deliberations and were read out by presiding judge Laurence Massart. The defendants heard them from within a large glass cubicle surrounded by masked police officers.

In addition to the loss of life among people from eight countries, the nail bomb blasts left 340 people with serious physical injuries.

Some of the six convicted of murder on Tuesday were found guilty last year of involvement in terror attacks in Paris that claimed 130 lives in 2015.

The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for both the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Three of the suicide bombers involved in the Brussels attacks died in the blasts. Some of those who were convicted this week were arrested after their devices failed to detonate.

The six convicted of murder will be sentenced in September and face a maximum sentence of life behind bars.

One of the six convicted of murder for the Brussels attacks, Oussama Atar, was tried in absentia. Authorities believe he was the leader of the group that carried out the attack and that he fled. He died later in an airstrike in Syria.

In addition to the six convicted of murder, two others were found guilty of taking part in terrorist activities.

Two others were cleared of all charges.

Psychological torment

In addition to the 32 people who died in the immediate aftermath of the Brussels bombings, the court ruled another three people who died in subsequent years should also be considered victims. They include two people who committed suicide after suffering years of pain and psychological torment.

Around 1,000 people, who were injured or caught up in the bombings, registered with the court to appear as witnesses. One of them, Pierre-Yves Desaive, thanked the jury for sitting through months of testimony, Reuters reported.

"They have done their duty to society and now it's up to society to help them," he said on the final day of the trial that was held behind a security cordon in a former NATO building.