A local woman spoke out on Friday about surviving the terrorist attack at the Brussels airport.
Mariah Boisvert and her 23-year-old brother, Brian, were on a layover at the Brussels airport when bombs exploded three terminals away from them and people were killed.
The pair had no idea what had happened until they overheard a flight attendant on the phone.
"I heard her say ‘explosions.’ That’s all I heard so I turned to my brother and said ‘I think this is more serious than I thought,’" Boisvert said.
The siblings followed the crowds moving quickly through the airport.
"There was obviously fear and praying, hoping things would turn out the best they could," Boisvert said.
Boisvert, 20, and her brother relied on their parents, who were back in Shrewsbury, for information and a safe place to stay.
"What was occurring to us was that it was not over. We just felt like … it could continue to happen," Boisvert’s mother, Maribeth Lynch said.
The brother and sister got to Amsterdam on Thursday and then on a flight to the United States.
"It was an amazing feeling of relief, the first time we could breath really in a few days," Bosivert said.
Bosivert’s mother said the attacks would not intimidate her.
"The fear is real but terrorism is meant to terrorize people and stop you from living your life. We are not going to allow that to happen," she said.
Brian Boisvert is back in New York where he lives and Mariah plans to return to UMass-Amherst.
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