Pictured: Belgian mother who has two sons aged three and just three months, who was killed in New York terror attack

Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, was killed in the New York attack
Hatty Collier1 November 2017

A Belgian woman who is mother to two sons has been identified as one of the victims of the New York terror attack.

Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, from a town near Flanders, has been identified as being among the eight victims killed in the carnage in Manhattan.

Her husband Alexander Naessens told the New York Daily News his loss was "unbearable and unthinkable”.

“Anne-Laure ... was a fantastic wife and the most beautiful mom to our two sons".

Ms Decadt's two sons are aged three and three months.

New York terror attack - in pictures

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Her mother and two sisters were not harmed in the vehicle attack which left eight dead and 11 injured.

Mr Naessens said he received a devastating phone call from Lower Manhattan Hospital on Tuesday night when he was in Belgium.

He has asked for privacy for his family.

Suspect: Sayfullo Saipov
AP

The suspected attacker — named by police as Sayfullo Saipov, 29 — drove a pick-up truck at cyclists and pedestrians for more than a mile before ramming into a school bus and jumping out of the vehicle with a fake gun in each hand.

Witnesses said he shouted “Allahu Akbar” before being shot in the stomach by a police officer.

Police said a picture of an Islamic State flag was found in the rented truck, as well as handwritten notes pledging allegiance to IS.

Calling the terror suspect a “very sick and deranged person”, President Trump tweeted last night that he had ordered the US government to “step up” its vetting programme for foreign nationals.

“I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!”

A Belgian woman was also killed in the attack. Belgium’s deputy prime minister Didier Reynders said the victim was visiting New York from Roeselare with her sister and mother.

It was unclear whether the other family members were the remaining two victims.

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