Shares of European hotel companies fell after reports that two explosions ripped through a Brussels airport departure hall on Tuesday morning, causing deaths and injuries. The Bloomberg Europe Lodging Index, composed of the seven leading lodging stocks, fell 4.1 percent, the most since Feb. 11. Shares of Accor SA, the continent's biggest hotel operator, led declines, falling 5.2 percent to 36.96 euros as of 9:40 am, its lowest level since Feb. 25. Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc stock declined 3 percent to 2.73 euros per share. The lodging index has declined 11.7 percent since Nov. 12, the day before attacks in Paris left 130 people dead. Passengers said the bombs went off in rapid succession around 8 a.m., the peak check-in hour for morning flights within Europe. Belgian police said there was at least one dead, while VTM news put the toll at 11, citing a local fire department. Panicked travelers were shown fleeing toward the airport parking garage in television images and takeoffs and landings were suspended. Belgium has been on high alert after the capture Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the only surviving participant of the massacre in Paris. Abdeslam faces a Brussels court decision on Wednesday on whether to extend a Belgian arrest warrant issued on Saturday.
