Attack At Istanbul’s International Airport Kills At Least 28 People

Dozens are injured after at least one explosion and gunfire at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul on Tuesday. Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
Dozens are injured after at least one explosion and gunfire at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
People wait outside the Ataturk airport in Istanbul after an attack on Tuesday that killed at least 28 people. Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
People wait outside the Ataturk airport in Istanbul after an attack on Tuesday that killed at least 28 people.
Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images

At least 28 people have died at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport, where an explosion followed an outburst of gunfire Tuesday night, according to Turkish officials. Police and emergency personnel have flocked to the airport. Some 60 people were reportedly injured.

Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin delivered an update on the death toll in the attack; earlier, officials such as Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag had said that at least 10 people had died.

“The minister said a terrorist opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at the international terminal before detonating a suicide bomb,” reports the state-run Anadolu Agency.

An entrance of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul after explosions on Tuesday. DHA via AP
An entrance of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul after explosions on Tuesday.
DHA via AP

Crucial details about the attack are still emerging. We’ll update this post with news from Istanbul as it emerges.

A video posted to Twitter suggests security personnel shot an armed attacker as he ran around a corner in the airport. The video, one of several that appears to be smartphone footage of a security camera monitor, shows people fleeing from a man who then falls to the ground. The man struggles on the ground for some 20 seconds before the scene is overtaken by a large explosion.

In an update on the attack, Bozdag later said that at least one explosion struck near the entrance to the airport. There’s been conflicting information about whether there were one or two blasts at the airport.

In one harrowing video that looks to have been filmed by pointing a smartphone at security camera footage, the moment the blast struck seems to have been captured. The images show a large fiery blast — one that could have spread devastation much further if it hadn’t been at least partially contained by a hallway. At the end of the sequence, people who seem to have been only around 50 feet from the blast are seen running away. The video was posted to Twitter by many accounts; several of those postings were then removed.

TV news channels in Turkey put out an online video stream showing more than a dozen ambulances responding to the airport. In one sequence, a police officer was seen walking out of the building, his shirt stained with blood.

A live online broadcast from the Dogan News Agency also showed ambulances, private vehicles, and a taxi cab rushing up to the doors of a hospital, unloading bloodied patients who were then quickly taken inside.

One video that was briefly posted to Twitter before being removed showed a scene of panic inside the airport, as a man who apparently works at the facility urged travelers to flee down a hallway.

Consulate staff at the U.S. embassy in Turkey are now working to determine whether any Americans are among the victims of the attack. Just one day ago, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning to U.S. citizens, citing “increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey.”

The embassy has posed a page to help travelers

The violence comes after a string of attacks have hit Turkey — including two deadly strikes in March that targeted Ankara and Istanbul, as well as another attack near military buildings in Istanbul in February.

This is a breaking news story. As often happens in situations like these, some information reported early may turn out to be inaccurate. We’ll move quickly to correct the record and we’ll only point to the best information we have at the time. Refresh this page for the latest.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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