Istanbul – Turkish officials have given a timeline of how the triple suicide attack unfolded at Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
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Three suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs killed 41 people and wounded hundreds at Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport, apparently targeting Turkey’s crucial tourism industry. The government blamed the attack on Islamic State extremists but there was no immediate confirmation from the group.
Scenes of chaos and panic unfolded Tuesday night as gunfire and explosions sent crowds fleeing in all directions.
It was not clear if any attackers were still on the loose.
The attackers arrived by taxi, officials said.
“When the terrorists couldn’t pass the regular security system, when they couldn’t pass the scanners, police and security controls, they returned and took out their weapons out of their suitcases and opened fire at random at the security check,” said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
All three attackers arrived together at the lower-level arrivals hall; one went inside, opened fire and then detonated his explosives, according to an Interior Ministry official and another official.
During the chaos, the second attacker went upstairs to departures and blew himself up.
The third man waited outside during the whole episode and detonated his explosives last as people flooded out of the airport, the officials said.
Separately, a senior Turkish security official said the three attackers were not Turkish nationals. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
Footage shot by a passenger at the arrivals terminal of shows divider panels blown off their hinges, exposed electric circuits and dangling ceiling fixtures moments after the explosions.
In the video after Tuesday night’s attack, a Turkish fireman walks past the motionless body of a man lying face up, most of his right arm missing, near a Turkcell phone stand. Police and investigators carrying crackling radios examine the scene, where a few dazed passengers remain, weaving their way through scraps of debris littered over a bloodied floor.
The footage shows what appears to be at least two other apparently lifeless bodies in the same hall, and five men pushing a cart on which they have placed another seemingly lifeless person.
