Crime scene investigators and medics at the scene after a suicide bomb attack at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul pn Tuesday night
Picture: EPA/Sedat Suna
A South African told of being about 50m away from a gunman “randomly shooting” during the suicide attack at Turkey’s largest airport that left more than 30 people dead and up to 150 wounded on Tuesday.
Three suicide bombers reportedly opened fire‚ then blew themselves up in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in what Turkish authorities said was an attack by Islamic State militants.
Passengers were sent fleeing for cover in the airport’s departures hall when the bombers opened fire with automatic rifles before moving to the arrivals hall‚ where the bombs went off.
Paul Roos‚ a 77-year-old who was on his was home to South Africa after a holiday in southern Turkey‚ told Reuters he saw one of the attackers “randomly shooting”.
“He was wearing all black. His face was not masked‚” Roos said.
“We ducked behind a counter but I stood up and watched him. Two explosions went off shortly after one another. By that time he had stopped shooting.
“He turned around and started coming towards us. He was holding his gun inside his jacket. He looked around anxiously to see if anyone was going to stop him and then went down the escalator… We heard some more gunfire and then another explosion‚ and then it was over.”
Another South African who was caught in the random shooting during the suicide attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Tuesday described the ordeal as chaotic and horrible.
The shootings and bombings left more than 30 people dead and up to 150 wounded.
Judy Favish told eNCA on Wednesday morning that she had decided to spend two days in Istanbul after travelling to Ireland‚ using Turkish Airlines‚ for a conference.
“I had a wonderful time in Istanbul. I then travelled to the airport to catch my flight back home‚” she said.
“I must have missed the shootings about by a minute‚ because I was in a process of checking in and…the shooting started.”
Favish took cover under the counter where she was standing with airport staff members‚ and stayed there until it got quieter.
“I put my head out…there was some more shooting‚ so we stayed under the counter again‚ and then‚ after about another 10 minutes‚ somebody told us that we needed to move.
“We were ushered‚ running out of the airport behind some glass doors and we were taken down to the basement.
“A couple of people who were injured were also with us. They were still bleeding and very shaken. A couple of people had major panic attacks‚” Favish said.
They stayed in the basement for about two hours before being told to go‚ she said.
“They ushered us out of the airport. We walked through the airport‚ there was debris‚ blood. It was just chaos‚ horrible.”
Favish said she linked up with journalists who had been looking out for people who spoke English‚ and they connected her to other South Africans.
She‚ however‚ lost them after they were told to make their own arrangements for accommodation.
Favish told eNCA that she struggled to communicate with some officials as they did not speak English. “It was hard finding people who spoke English‚ there was no information given to passengers.”
“We were literally just hanging around. After about two hours‚ we spoke to some policeman‚ who told us to make our own arrangements.”
She said did not know when she will be back in South Africa as her flight had been cancelled.
“I understand that some flights are happening today. We’ve been advised by Turkish Airlines on their website to check the website for information.”
- TMG Digital
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