ATLANTA — Passengers on a flight from Istanbul to Atlanta said they were shocked and heartbroken to hear about the deadly airport attack once they landed.
The Turkish Airlines flight took off not long before the bombing Tuesday afternoon, which killed at least 36 people and injured 147 others.
“You walk through the airport and you see these people and you just think the ones that you saw, are they OK? What happened to them?" passenger Maria Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez was greeted with tears by a friend who said she wasn’t certain if Rodriguez was still there when two explosions rocked the international terminal at Ataturk Airport.
“A little bit of panic there,” the friend, Jennifer Arozqueta, said.
Rodriguez says after hearing about the attack, she realized how close she was to the area where the bombings took place.
“I just cried because, in one of the videos, I had been in that area. It was in 214 and I was in 219, relatively close,” she said.
Other travelers in Atlanta are now grappling with whether or not to continue their flights to Turkey.
“I don’t want to. I really didn’t want to travel, but I got here so I’m going for it,” Sam Kahwach said.
The Istanbul governor says attackers opened fire in the X-ray area at the entrance to the international hall and then detonated their suicide devices.
The attack happened just one day after the state updated its travel warning.
“I just really feel sorry for all these people who got killed there, and just wish that people would live in peace,” Kahwach said.
“I'm thankful I’m okay but my heart is absolutely broken for all the people who don't get to go home or get to see their families. That's really heartbreaking,” Rodriguez said.
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport released a statement after the bombings, saying, "We are monitoring the situation closely in Istanbul and we are in coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement. At this time, there is no reason to believe that Hartsfield-Jackson is in any imminent threat."
Cox Media Group
