Terror in Istanbul (Today THU 30 June
2016)
He’s
shooting up, two times, and he’s beginning to shoot people like that, like he
was walking like a prophet ... and then my sister was running I don’t know
which way. Until now I can’t find my sister ...
Ms Otfah Mohamed Abdullah, a passenger who was checking in at
the airport
![](https://t1.daumcdn.net/cfile/cafe/2210BE385774A3523B)
A
mother of a victim crying outside a forensic medicine building close to
Istanbul’s airport yesterday.
Many were left not knowing for hours whether
loved ones were alive or dead. Photo: AFP
Stomach-churning terror, blind panic
grip terminal
ISTANBUL
— A petrified honeymoon couple hugged each other inside a hair salon cupboard as shots rang out outside,
praying the gunmen rampaging through Istanbul’s airport would not find them.
Other
survivors crouched under check-in counters frantically weighing up whether to
stay put or flee.
Amid
the chaos, some watched the horror unfold on smartphones or told their stories
live on social media. Many were left not knowing for hours whether loved ones
were alive or dead.
Witnesses
to the carnage at Istanbul airport described scenes of blind panic and
stomach-churning terror after attackers detonated three bombs and began
shooting indiscriminately in the main terminal building.
At
least 36 people died in the bloodiest of four attacks in the city this year.
The Turkish authorities have pointed the finger at Islamic State militants.
Security
cameras captured passengers scattering desperately as a huge ball of flame
erupted at one entrance. Other footage
showed a gunman clad in black blowing himself up after apparently being floored
by a police marksman’s shot.
Abandoned
luggage sprinkled with shards of shattered glass was strewn across the
blood-splattered floor.
With
passengers scrambling in every direction, some survivors were left with
agonising waits to discover if travelling companions had also made it out.
Ms
Otfah Mohamed Abdullah was checking her luggage in when she saw one of the
attackers pull out a hidden gun and begin shooting.
“He’s
shooting up, two times, and he’s beginning to shoot people like that, like he
was walking like a prophet ... and then my sister was running I don’t know
which way. She was running and after that I was falling down, I was on the
ground until he finished. Until now I can’t find my sister and I don’t have
anything, everything (I have) is inside,” she told AFPTV.
Japanese
traveller Yumi Koyi was waiting for her flight to Tokyo when the attacks began
and she was swept up in a scramble to escape. “I heard gunshots, so it was
really panicking everyone together,” she said.
Latvian
businessman Rihards Kalnins told AFP that those inside the terminal had no way
of knowing what was happening.
“There
was just panic about what was going on. People were running, screaming. I
didn’t know what was going on. At first I thought it was a fight or something
like that. I had no idea,” said Mr Kalnins.
“Then
people started saying there was an explosion, there was gunfire. There was no
order. Then, for the next few hours, the only way to find out what was going on
was through social media.
“Literally
while we were hiding out a couple of hundred metres away around the corner,
some local guy was showing us video footage on his phone of what was going on
200m away — which was surreal.”
New
York-based Iraqi journalist Steven Nabil said he was on his way home from his
honeymoon when he was caught up in the drama, which he depicted in a series of
tweets. He had left his wife in a cafe while he went to get food on a different
floor.
“Heard
shots, ran fast towards her,” he said. “Came down the stairs to see the court
empty and the terrorist firing towards us. We then took cover in a closet
inside a hair salon. The 45 minutes we were sitting ducks waiting to find out
who will open the door. When the bullets were close I hugged and kissed her.” AFP