A team of brewers from Portland was returning to Maine on Tuesday morning when terrorists attacked the Brussels airport at 8 a.m. Belgian time.
Rob Tod, founder of Allagash Brewing, tweeted, “We are all 6 safe, and headed for a flight out of Paris. A very, very sad day for Brussels.”
Brewer master Jason Perkins tweeted “Crazy end to trip — events at the airport occurred 5 minutes before we arrived — All @AllagashBrewing crew are safe, headed out of Brussels.”
According to The Guardian, at least 30 died as a result of explosions at Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek metro station in Brussels.
The Maine group of 10 was in Belgium to sample ales and gain new insights into the Belgian brewing tradition. The trip is a highlight of working at Allagash Brewing Co., employees have said.
The annual excursion celebrates employees who have been with the company for five years. Six were to fly out of Brussels on Tuesday, while four employees had separate arrangements to stay longer in Europe.
“Thankfully, everyone on the trip is OK and unharmed and making arrangements to leave Europe. Now, our thoughts are with the people of Brussels and Belgium. This is a very sad day for a city and country that means so much to us,” marketing director Jeff Pillet-Shore said in a prepared statement.
Tuesday morning the company tweeted to its 22,200 followers: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Belgium.”