Katarina Viktorsson has been added to the list of victims of the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks, it was announced during a memorial ceremony on Sunday.
Viktorsson was a Swedish woman, mother of two children, who lived in Brussels. She died by suicide earlier this year.
Viktorsson had lost her mother, Berit, in the 2016 attack at the airport in Zaventem. She testified in 2023 at the trial of the attacks. In her emotional testimony, she spoke about how she had spent seven years "not living, but merely surviving."
Katarina Viktorsson. Credit: Belga/Thierry Roge
She further described feeling abandoned by the victim support services and that it is too expensive for her to pay for a psychologist out of pocket. She was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"Without my children, I probably wouldn’t have lived on. A month ago, I thought I couldn’t go on like this. At a certain point, it becomes comfortable in a way to stay stuck in the pit—you don’t risk any surprises. But it’s no way to live," she said in 2023.
Her name was added on Sunday to the memorial at Brussels Airport, beneath that of her mother Berit.
A total of 32 people were killed and 340 injured in the attacks at the airport in Zaventem and Maalbeek metro station. Following the trial, three more individuals were recognised as victims in 2023. Katarina Viktorsson is now the 36th recognised victim of the attacks.
Anyone having suicidal thoughts can contact the Suicide Prevention Centre hotline at 0800/32/123. The service is anonymous, free and available 24/7. More information can be found here.
The English mental health support (CHS) Helpline can be reached at 0264/84/014. The French-speaking Un pass dans l'impasse helpline can be reached at 0817/77/150. In Flanders, the helpline 1813 can be reached 24/7.
