Mathias Ellegiers said his sister was locked inside the art school she attends in Brussels to keep her and other students safe Tuesday after terrorists attacked several sites near the European Union headquarters in Belgium.
His friends were safe, too, after a couple of close calls. He said they arrived at the Brussels airport Tuesday just in time to hear explosions and see the aftermath of the terrorist attack there. Unhurt, they hopped a train back into the city center only to learn that a different train was attacked about the same time.
Yet Ellegiers — a Belgian native who splits his time between Akron and Belgium — was not rattled Tuesday.
“This was not as bad as 9/11,” he said during an interview Tuesday morning with WEWS NewsChannel 5 and the Beacon Journal via Skype. “It’s a small dent in our peace of western countries.”
Ellegiers, an engineer who graduated from Case Western Reserve University, and his girlfriend, Daphne Fecheyr-Lippens, who is pursuing her doctorate at the University of Akron, launched a bicontinental company called Jaswig a little less than two years ago.
The company makes stand-up desks for students, businesses and home use, with the idea of using “digital manufacturing to make the world a healthier place.” The Akron startup produces its U.S. products in Greater Cleveland and its European products in Belgium.
Ellegiers spoke from his home in Ghent, Belgium, which is about 30 miles from Brussels and about 3,910 miles from Gasoline Alley and Lanning’s in Ghent, the Bath Township crossroads.
Northeast Ohio-linked businesses with operations in and near Brussels awaited updates across the Atlantic following the series of explosions.
Lubrizol tweeted that all workers at its regional office in Brussels, which employs fewer than 100 people, were safe — including 10 traveling into or out of town.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. also said it has confirmed the safety of its employees in Belgium and has shared the latest security guidance from the Belgian government with them.
Both companies expressed condolences for the victims and their loved ones.
Jaswig’s Ellegiers said there’s been a noticeable uptick in security in Belgium since the Paris terrorist attacks in November that killed 130, including 89 at the Bataclan theater.
It’s commonplace now to see officers strolling streets with guns. And he noted, on Friday authorities in Belgium arrested Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving terrorist from the Paris attacks.
“We actually captured the suspect and nothing changes,” Ellegiers said. “A few days later, you have another attack.”
Ellegiers, who comes to Akron for business about five or six times a year, said he is hopeful the European Union can come together to find a long-term solution.
He said many northern African immigrants have settled in Brussels.
“Most fit in nicely and some are great people, but they have a different society, different standards,” Ellegiers said.
A long-term solution to the violence, he said, is for the Europeans and immigrant communities to reach out to each other and better understand their differences and commonalities.
“It’s easy to judge … some people might even ask why are we accepting these people into our country,” Ellegiers said. “But we can’t generalize. That won’t help.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.