(supersedes previous)Patricia
Rizzo, an Italian official for a European Commission agency, is
among the missing people after Tuesday's Islamist terror attack
at the Maalbeek station of the Brussels metro, ANSA sources said
on Wednesday. The woman's family and friends are looking
for her in hospitals in the city, her cousin Massimo Leonora
said on Facebook, asking for assistance in finding Rizzo.
"We're been here since this morning and we still don't know
anything," Leonora told ANSA, speaking from the burns unit of
Queen Astrid Military Hospital. "The police asked Patricia's
parents to fill out a form...they are looking for identifying
marks".
Earlier on Wednesday, the Italian foreign ministry said it
is highly likely an Italian national is among the 32 confirmed
victims.
Former transport minister Maurizio Lupi said after a
meeting of party whips at Premier Matteo Renzi's office
Wednesday that the government was trying to verify whether an
Italian woman was killed in the attacks.
"The premier informed us that verification of a possible
Italian victim is taking place," Lupi told reporters. "(The
possible victim is) a woman who was missing. The phase of
identification (of the body) is under way".
Rizzo served as a manager at the Parma-based European Food
Safety Authority (EFSA) from 2003-2008.
"Patricia was a staffer for our two previous executive
directors," EFSA Media Relations Officer Francesca Avanzini
said.
"We are all worried about her".
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