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.
The Swedish woman who lived in Belgium died by suicide earlier this year. Viktorsson had lost her mother, Berit, in the 2016 attack at the airport in Zaventem.
Viktorsson 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.
"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.
During an official memorial ceremony of the Brussels attacks, Viktorsson was officially recognised as a victim of the Brussels 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.
