|
| Turkish police and rescue services gather outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport, killing several people and wounding others, Turkey's justice minister and another official said Tuesday. A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at the airport after police fired at them. The official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check. |
ISTANBUL (AP) -- The Latest on the explosions at Istanbul's Ataturk airport (all times local):
1:40 a.m.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has released a statement condemning the
attack on Istanbul's Ataturk airport, which took place during the Muslim
holy month of Ramadan. He says the attack "shows that terrorism strikes
with no regard to faith and values."
He has
called on the international community to take a firm stand against
terrorism and vowed to keep up Turkey's struggle against terror groups.
Erdogan says "Turkey has the power, determination and capacity to continue the fight against terrorism until the end."
---
1:20 a.m.
A
senior Turkish government official has told The Associated Press all
initial indications suggest the Islamic State group is behind the attack
at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.
The official
also said nearly 50 people were killed in the attack Tuesday at the
airport's international terminal and as many as four attackers may have
been involved.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
---
12:55 a.m.
German
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has condemned the attacks on
Ataturk airport in Istanbul that have killed at least 28 people.
He says on the sidelines of an ecumenical Iftar dinner in Berlin that he's shocked by the news.
He
says the background of the attacks is still unclear, "but everything
suggests that terrorists have once again hit the Turkish metropolis.
"We grieve for the victims and with the relatives. We stand by Turkey."
---
12:50 a.m.
U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry says officials are still trying to figure
out who attacked the Ataturk airport in Istanbul and what exactly
happened.
Kerry was speaking at the Festival of Ideas in Aspen, Colorado.
He says "This is daily fare and that's why I say the first challenge we need to face is countering non-state, violent actors."
---
12:40 a.m.
Hundreds of passengers are flooding out of Istanbul's Ataturk airport after an attack that killed at least 28 people.
Twelve-year-old Hevin Zini had just arrived from Dusseldorf with her family and was in tears from the shock.
She tells The Associated Press that there was blood on the ground and everything was blown up to bits.
South
African Judy Favish, who spent two days in Istanbul as a layover on her
way home from Dublin, had just checked in when she heard an explosion
followed by gunfire and a loud bang.
She says she hid under the counter for some time.
Favish
says passengers were ushered to a cafeteria at the basement level where
they were kept for more than an hour before being allowed outside.
---
12:15 a.m.
Turkey's
NTV television is quoting Istanbul's governor as saying 28 people were
killed in the attack at the city's airport and some 60 people wounded.
Governor Vasip Sahin also told the channel that three suicide bombers carried out the attack Tuesday.
Officials
had previously said one or two attackers had blown themselves up at the
entrance to the international terminal at the airport after police
fired at them.
---
12:10 a.m.
Hundreds
of passengers are spilling out of Istanbul's Ataturk airport with their
suitcases in hand or stacked onto trolleys after two explosions killed
at least 10 people.
Others are sitting on the
grass, their bodies lit by the flashing lights of ambulances and police
cars, which are the only kind of vehicles allowed to reach the airport.
Two
South African tourists, Paul and Susie Roos from Cape Town, were at the
airport and due to fly home at the time of the explosions Tuesday. They
were shaken by what they witnessed.
Paul said: "We came up from the arrivals to the departures, up the escalator when we heard these shots going off."
He added: "There was this guy going roaming around, he was dressed in black and he had a hand gun."
---
11:40 p.m.
European
Union leaders holding an unprecedented summit about Britain's departure
from the bloc are condemning a deadly attack on Istanbul's Ataturk
airport.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel
tweeted from a closed-door meeting Tuesday in Brussels, "Despicable
terror attack. Stand together with people of Turkey."
Dalia
Grybauskaite, president of Lithuania, wrote "Our thoughts are with the
victims of the attacks at Istanbul airport. We condemn those atrocious
acts of violence."
The 28 EU leaders are
meeting for an exceptional summit at which Prime Minister David Cameron
announced his country has voted to leave the EU. They are also
discussing migration via Turkey to the EU.
Two explosions rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport Tuesday, killing at least 10 people.
---
11 p.m.
A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at Istanbul's Ataturk airport after police fire at them.
Turkish media quoted Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag as saying 10 people were killed in the attack on Tuesday.
Turkey's
state-run news agency quoted Bekir Bozdag as saying: "According to the
information I was given, a terrorist at the international terminal
entrance first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew himself up.
We have around 10 martyrs (dead) and around 20 wounded."
The
official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of
the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check.
Turkish
airports have security checks at both at the entrance of terminal
buildings and then later before entry to departure gates.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
---
10:25 p.m.
A Turkish official says two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport, wounding multiple people.
The official said Tuesday it was unclear whether the explosions were caused by a suicide attack.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
Turkish media reported the sound of gunfire at the scene.
Turkey has suffered several bombings in recent months linked to Kurdish or Islamic State group militants.
