Suicide bombers attacked Turkey’s largest airport, Istanbul’s Ataturk, on Tuesday evening, killing at least 36 people.
Turkish authorities said 36 had died and 147 had ben wounded.
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Three suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up, the provincial governor and witnesses said. Prime minister Binali Yildirim said there were indications that the attacks may have been carried out by the Islamic State. There have been no claims of responsibility so far.
Reports on the number of attackers were initially conflicting. “According to information I have received, at the entrance to the Ataturk Airport international terminal a terrorist first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew himself up,” Bozdag said earlier in comments broadcast by CNN Turk.
Police reportedly fired shots in an attempt to stop the attack, which Turkey’s state-run TRT television reported occurred at the airport’s international arrivals terminal.
NBC spoke with a porter who works in the airport, who said he heard a first explosion, and saw people running. He began running with them. When he looked back he says he saw a police officer diving to tackle a second bomber, who blew himself up. The porter also reported hearing a third blast.
NBC correspodent Richard Engel said from Istanbul the triple attack was “very sophisticated.”
Video footage and photos taken in the aftermath of the attacks showed people taking shelter, and others who had been wounded lying on the ground outside the terminal building. Reuters also published a photo that showed a Kalashnikov rifle on the ground inside the airport terminal.
One video showed people yelling “Get down!” amid what sounds like bursts of gunfire.
Turkey has been rattled in the last few months by a string of attacks linked to the Islamic State or to the conflict with Kurdish separatists in the country’s southeast. Earlier this month, a car bomb tore through a police bus in central Istanbul during rush hour, killing 11 and injuring 36. In March, a suicide bomber blew themselves up in a busy shopping district in Istanbul, killing four. In January, more than 28 people were killed in Ankara, the Turkish capital, when a bomb exploded near a bus station in a central square.
According to the BBC, Ataturk is Europe’s third-busiest airport, after London’s Heathrow and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle. Reports said Ataturk would remain closed until 1pm local time on Wednesday.
Flights are suspended into Ataturk until Wednesday morning. Istanbul’s other airport, Sabiha Gokcen, located on the Asian side — unlike Ataturk, which is in Europe, west of the city — remains open.
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