ISTANBUL—Suicide attackers killed dozens and wounded more than 140 at Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport, the latest in a series of bombings to strike Turkey in recent months. Turkish officials said the massacre was most likely the work of the Islamic State group.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 36 people died Tuesday as well as the three suicide bombers, who arrived at the airport in a taxi and blew themselves up after opening fire. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 147 were wounded.
Yildirim said in a press statement early Wednesday that air traffic had returned to normal and “our airport has been opened to flights and departures from 02:20 (local time) on.”
There were conflicting accounts of the attack.
A Turkish official said authorities are going through CCTV footage and witness statements to establish a preliminary timeline and details of the attack. “It is a jigsaw puzzle” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
The Haber Turk newspaper reported that one attacker blew himself up outside the terminal, then two others opened fire at the point where the X-ray machines are. One attacker was shot at while running amid fleeing passengers, then blew himself up at the exit. The third attacker went up one level to where the international departures terminal is, was shot by police and blew himself up.
