Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Ambulances rushed to the airport after the attack [Osman Orsal/Reuters]
Three suicide bombers hit Ataturk Airport, killing 28 and injuring dozens more.
At least 28 people have been killed and 60 others injured following explosions at Istanbul's main international airport, Turkish officials say.
Istanbul's governor, Vasip Sahin, said there were at least three people involved in the attack at Ataturk Airport late on Tuesday evening.
"According to initial assessments 28 people have lost their lives, some 60 people have been taken to hospitals. Our detailed inspections are continuing in all aspects," Sahin said.
The attackers reportedly tried to penetrate the "control point" coming into the airport. Security personnel then opened fire to "neutralise" the attackers, who then detonated their explosives, authorities said.
One suicide attacker detonated himself at the airport parking lot, Al Jazeera's Ayse Karabat, reporting from Istanbul, said.
Reuters news agency, quoting a witness, said an airport security personnel wrestled to the ground one attacker, shortly before one of the explosions.
Images from local television showed several people running away from the airport. Several people were also shown being transported on stretchers and in wheelchairs.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. But one security analyst told Al Jazeera that the attack bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), which carried out a "similar attack" at the Brussels airport in March.
Fadi Hakura, a Turkish specialist at Chatham House in London, told Al Jazeera that foreign tourists were "clearly targeted" by the attackers.
Ataturk Airport is one of the busiest ports in the world serving more than 60 million passengers in 2015.
All outbound flights have been cancelled, while most of the inbound flights have been diverted. Planes already approaching the airport were allowed to land.
There has been a string of bombings around Turkey over the past year, some of them blamed on ISIL, others claimed by Kurdish fighters.
