Istanbul – IN PHOTOS: Aftermath Of Istanbul Airport Suicide Attack

Istanbul – Officials on Wednesday morning began assessing the damage caused at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport by three suicide bombers who killed dozens and wounded more than 140.

Workers were brought in to remove debris left by the blast, while in the daylight the damage to the terminal became clearer with even ceiling panels hit.

The airport was partially reopened, with the information board inside the airport showing that about one third of scheduled flights have been canceled, with a host of others delayed.

The victims included at least 23 Turkish citizens and 13 foreigners. The death toll excluded the three bombers, who arrived in a taxi and eventually blew themselves up after coming under fire, according to the government, though there were conflicting reports about exactly where they detonated their explosives.

The devastation at Istanbul’s airport echoed the March 22 attack on the Brussels airport, where two suicide bombings ripped through check-in counters, killing 16 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack, as well as an explosion at a Brussels subway station that killed 16 more people.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Twitter: “Our thoughts are with the victims of the attacks at Istanbul’s airport. We condemn these atrocious acts of violence.”

Two South African tourists, Paul and Susie Roos from Cape Town, were due to fly home at the time of the explosions.

“We came up from the arrivals to the departures, up the escalator when we heard these shots going off,” Paul Roos said. “There was this guy going roaming around, he was dressed in black and he had a handgun.”

Dozens of anxious friends and relatives waited early Wednesday outside Istanbul’s Bakirkoy Hospital.
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