In pictures: the airport attack that shook Istanbul

At least 36 people were killed and around 150 wounded in a triple suicide attack at Turkey's Ataturk Intl Airport.
Published June 29, 2016

ISTANBUL: Three suicide bombers opened fire then blew themselves up in Istanbul's main international airport on Tuesday, killing 36 people and wounding close to 150 in what Turkey's prime minister said appeared to have been an attack by Islamic State militants.

One attacker opened fire in the departures hall with an automatic rifle, sending passengers diving for cover and trying to flee, before all three blew themselves up in or around the arrivals hall a floor below, witnesses and officials said.

The attack on Europe's third-busiest airport was one of the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey, which is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and is struggling to contain the spillover from neighbouring Syria's civil war.

It is also battling an insurgency by Kurdish militants in its largely Kurdish southeast.

A mother of victims reacts outside a forensic medicine building close to Istanbul's airport. — AFP
A mother of victims reacts outside a forensic medicine building close to Istanbul's airport. — AFP

Forensic police work the explosion site at Ataturk airport. — AFP
Forensic police work the explosion site at Ataturk airport. — AFP

Bullet impacts are pictured at Ataturk airport's International terminal. — AFP
Bullet impacts are pictured at Ataturk airport's International terminal. — AFP

Turkish anti riot police officers block the main entrance of the Ataturk airport. — AFP
Turkish anti riot police officers block the main entrance of the Ataturk airport. — AFP

Children and their relatives embrace as they leave Ataturk airport in Istanbul after two explosions followed by gunfire hit Turkey's biggest airport. — AFP
Children and their relatives embrace as they leave Ataturk airport in Istanbul after two explosions followed by gunfire hit Turkey's biggest airport. — AFP

A board shows status of flights at Turkey's largest airport. — Reuters
A board shows status of flights at Turkey's largest airport. — Reuters

Workers stand near debris from yesterday's blasts as they take a break at Turkey's largest airport. — Reuters
Workers stand near debris from yesterday's blasts as they take a break at Turkey's largest airport. — Reuters

Members of a flight crew leave Istanbul's Ataturk airport.— AP
Members of a flight crew leave Istanbul's Ataturk airport.— AP

Airline crew members leave Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey, following a blast. — Reuters
Airline crew members leave Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey, following a blast. — Reuters

A riot police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Ataturk airport. — Reuters — AFP
A riot police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Ataturk airport. — Reuters — AFP

Passengers wait at the Ataturk airport's main enterance in Istanbul. — AP
Passengers wait at the Ataturk airport's main enterance in Istanbul. — AP

Passengers rest on the pavement outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport. — AP
Passengers rest on the pavement outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport. — AP

A flight's passengers leave on a bus from Istanbul's Ataturk airport — AP
A flight's passengers leave on a bus from Istanbul's Ataturk airport — AP

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks to the press at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. — Reuters
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks to the press at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. — Reuters