Tragedy has struck Istanbul.
According to The Associated Press, at least 28 people were killed and 60 injured when three explosions, along with gunfire, erupted in the Istanbul Ataturk airport on Tuesday.
A significant number of suicide bombers detonated themselves, various outlets confirm, after an exchange of gunfire with police.
These attacks were confirmed by the State Department, which took to Twitter and wrote:
“Multiple casualties and wounded reported at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport in #Turkey.”
The account added:
“US Consulate working to determine if US citizens are among victims in #Turkey. Updates forthcoming.”
Reports coming in state that there were at minimum three bombers involved in the attack and that they used automatic weapons against authorities before taking their own lives.
“There was a huge explosion, extremely loud,” Ali Tekin, who was waiting at arrivals for a guest when the attack took place, told Reuters.
“The roof came down. Inside the airport it is terrible, you can’t recognize it. The damage is big.”
South African tourists Paul and Susie Roos also went over the horrific experience with The Associated Press.
“We came up from the arrivals to the departures, up the escalator when we heard these shots going off,” Paul explained.
“There was this guy going roaming around, he was dressed in black and he had a hand gun.”
Taxis are ferrying the wounded from the airport, according to reports.
All flights have been canceled for the time being.
Pictures taken outside of the International terminal have depicted emergency crews collecting the dead in body bags and heavily armed soldiers standing guard.
Istanbul Ataturk Airport is one of the busiest international airports in the world, handling 62 million passengers a year.
Our condolences go out to the loved ones of the victims.