The death toll from last night’s terrorist attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport has risen to 36, with dozens more injured.
According to local reports, three suicide bombers carrying Kalashnikovs and AK-47s opened fire in the international terminal before blowing themselves up when they were tackled by police.
It is understood that the terrorists struck near the entrance to the terminal at approximately 8pm, as passengers go through X-ray machines, in an attack similar to that which killed 16 people at Brussels airport in March.
A German tourist told Reuters:
“Everyone started running away. Everywhere was covered with blood and body parts. I saw bullet holes on the doors,”
Videos uploaded to Twitter during the attack show the true terror of travellers, gripping children, loved ones and luggage and huddled in a duty free store as airport staff urge them to sit down on the floor.
Instagram video from Istanbul Ataturk Airport captures the panic https://t.co/sMkjQXQRy6 pic.twitter.com/Re4JPLu9va
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) June 28, 2016
Other graphic footage showed injured passengers lying on the grass outside the airport and a frantic man carrying a child soaked in blood into a hospital.
Turkish news agencies quoting police sources are reporting that Islamic State are behind the attack, which appears symbolic; more than 30 million people travel through Istanbul’s main airport every year. It’s also the international headquarters of Turkish Airlines, the official airline partner of the EURO 2016 football tournament currently taking place in France.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged a ‘joint war’ on terror, saying:
‘If states, as all humanity, fail to join forces and wage a joint fight against terrorist organisations, all the possibilities that we dread in our minds will come true one by one.’
He added: ‘The attack, which took place during the holy month of Ramadan, shows that terrorism strikes with no regard for faith and values.
‘The bombs that exploded in Istanbul today could have gone off at any airport in any city around the world.’
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump released a statement urging the US to ‘take steps now to protect America from terrorists, and do everything in our power to improve our security to keep America safe,’
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also released a statement on the attack, asking that ‘all Americans stand united with the people of Turkey against this campaign of hatred and violence’.
Main image: Twitter/AsherBeauregard
