Wednesday, June 29, 2016

A son rushing to meet his mother, the couple preparing for their wedding and the hero who tried to stop the bomber: First pictures of Istanbul airport

At least 42 innocent people lost their lives in the attack, including Mahmoud Çizmecioğlu and his wife Zeynep Çizmecioğlu, pictured
Tragic stories of the lives cut short by three suicide bombers at Istanbul airport are beginning to emerge.
The attackers, believed to be ISIS extremists, claimed 42 lives, most of them Turkish citizens, when they detonated their devices at the city's Ataturk Airport.
Among those who died were five Saudis, two Iraqis, one Tunisian, an Uzbek, an Iranian, a Ukrainian, a Jordanian and a Chinese national.

At least 42 innocent people lost their lives in the attack, including Mahmoud Çizmecioğlu and his wife Zeynep Çizmecioğlu, pictured
A number of people killed on Tuesday had only come to the airport to meet their loved ones or do a job, including Göksel Kurnaz, 38, who was picking up his boss from the airport.
Serkan Turk, a 24-year-old physical education graduate who had gone to the airport to meet his mother.
He was killed by the second blast, after he went to try and help those injured by the first. 
Airport worker Yusuf Haznedaroğlu (pictured, with his fiance) was due to get married in 10 days' time
Airport worker Yusuf Haznedaroğlu (pictured, with his fiance) was due to get married in 10 days' time

Yusuf Haznedaroğlu was due to marry in 10 days: pictures have emerged of him smiling broadly for the camera with the woman who should have been his bride.
Yeni Ise Girmisti had just started a new job, while Gülşen Bahadır, a TGS Yer employee who is understood to have been shot, wrote on her Facebook a week before, 'I accept, I love and thank you, everything in my life'.
Today, a friend wrote on her Facebook page: 'Rest in heaven with a beautiful human...'
Customs officer Umut Sakaroğlu has been hailed as a hero for his actions. He was standing guard as a terrorist tried to go through the first set of security.
Gülşen Bahadir
Umut Sakaroğlu
Today, a friend wrote on Gülşen Bahadir's (left) Facebook page, 'Rest in heaven with a beautiful human...'. Fellow airport employee Umut Sakaroğlu  (right) has been credited with saving lives after trying to stop the terrorists before they detonated their bombs
Göksel Kurnaz (left), who died
Yeni Ise Girmisti, who died
Göksel Kurnaz (pictured left) and Yeni Ise Girmisti (right) were also named among the dead. Mr Kurnaz was at the airport to pick up his boss

Realising the danger people were in, it appears Sakaroğlu shot at the suicide bomber, who then detonated his belt, killing the customs officer.
However, his colleagues say had he not acted, many more people would have been killed.  
'The explosion came very close to areas where passengers are waiting for people,' a source told Hurriyet.
'Unfortunately, at that moment Sakaroğlu was martyred. But if not for that intervention, there would be more casualties.'
Gülşen Bahadır, an airline employee who is understood to have been shot, wrote on her Facebook a week before, 'not war, I insist, love'
Gülşen Bahadır, an airline employee who is understood to have been shot, wrote on her Facebook a week before, 'not war, I insist, love'
Serkan Turk
Relatives of Umut Sakaroglu hold a funeral of him at his funeral today
Serkan Turk (left) was at the airport to pick up his mother but died when he went to help after the first explosion. A mourner holds a photograph of hero customs officer Umut Sakaroğlu at his funeral today (right)
The first funerals were conducted on Wednesday, buried within 24 hours in accordance with Muslim tradition.  
The coffin of customs officer Siddik Turgan was carried to the service by dozens of family members, while his distraught daughter watched on, reaching out to her father's coffin.
The airport taxi drivers also gathered for the funeral of fellow driver Mustafa Bayrakli, 51, another of the victims.
Waiting to collect her father's body earlier today, Oznur Buzakci wept as she told Hurriyet: 'I can't find anything to say. Many people are hurt. On this holy day, they hurt everybody. There is no justice.' 
And as the families begin to bury their dead, stories from inside the terminal continue to surface. 
The daughter of Siddik Turgan, who was killed on Tuesday, reacts as her father's coffin is carried nearby during his funeral ceremony
The daughter of Siddik Turgan, who was killed on Tuesday, reacts as her father's coffin is carried nearby during his funeral ceremony
Dozens of relatives carried Mr Turgan's coffin, draped in a Turkish flag, to the service on Wednesday afternoon
Dozens of relatives carried Mr Turgan's coffin, draped in a Turkish flag, to the service on Wednesday afternoon
Çöl Kontuar worked at the airport as a desks officer
Taxi driver Mustafa Bayrakli, 51, and Çöl Kontuar, who worked at the airport as a desks officer
Airport taxi drivers pray during the funeral ceremony of their colleague Mustafa Biyikli, 51. His daughter told reporters earlier in the day that there was 'no justice... on this holy day'
Airport taxi drivers pray during the funeral ceremony of their colleague Mustafa Biyikli, 51. His daughter told reporters earlier in the day that there was 'no justice... on this holy day'
Serkan Turk, 24, was at the airport to collect his mother. He was killed in the second blast, after going to help people injured in the first
Serkan Turk, 24, was at the airport to collect his mother. He was killed in the second blast, after going to help people injured in the first
One of the three terrorists that struck at Turkey's Ataturk Airport wields an AK-47 as he conducts his killing spree
A man carries a wounded boy away from the devastated airport tonight after the  explosions, after suicide bombers launched an attack
One of the three terrorists that struck at Turkey's Ataturk Airport wields an AK-47 as he carries out his killing spree (left), while a man carries a wounded boy away from the airport (right)
Another mother of one of the victims is comforted after learning the fate of one of her children after suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up 
Another mother of one of the victims is comforted after learning the fate of one of her children after suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up 
A mother who lost one of her children in the attack has to be helped from the ground outside a forensic medicine building close to Istanbul Airport 
A mother who lost one of her children in the attack has to be helped from the ground outside a forensic medicine building close to Istanbul Airport 
An aerial view of the airport shows where the suicide bombers are believed to have detonated their explosives, close to the entrance to the international arrivals terminal
An aerial view of the airport shows where the suicide bombers are believed to have detonated their explosives, close to the entrance to the international arrivals terminal
Coffins of the dead are loaded on to the back of a hearse to be taken away from a forensic building close to the airport in Istanbul 
Coffins of the dead are loaded on to the back of a hearse to be taken away from a forensic building close to the airport in Istanbul 

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