An American man described the horror he and his wife felt when they came face-to-face with one of the gunmen during the Tuesday, June 28, attacks at Turkey’s Atatürk Airport in Istanbul.
Steven Nabil, who describes himself as an Iraqi-American journalist on his Twitter page, described the scene as three suicide bombers launched a coordinated attack on the airport as he and his wife were trying to fly home to the U.S.
Nabil’s wife was injured during the terrorist act, and the couple survived by hiding in a closet inside a closed hair salon.
“We just left the [airport]. My wife was injured during the attack. We were face to face with the attacker while he sprayed #istanbul,” he tweeted. “I ran back got my wife pulled her to store broke in and waited in terror while he was shooting outside the store.we barely made it,” he continued.
We just left the aiport. My wife was injured during the attack. We were face to face with the attacker while he sprayed #istanbul part1
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) June 28, 2016
“We were transiting from our honeymoon tonight through #istanbul back to NYC when the bullets were closer i hugged and kissed her,” he added.
Nabil went on to describe how he’d left his wife at a Cafe Nero while he went to fetch them some food, but rushed back when he heard shots.
“We then took cover in a closet inside a hair salon.The 45 minutes we were sitting ducks waiting to find out who will open the door,” he added. “In the closet i was begging my wife to keep calm because the noise might draw any attackers around.”
As Us Weekly reported previously, Vasip Sahin, the governor of Istanbul, told reporters that the deadly attack involved at least three suicide bombers who also fired automatic weapons before detonating their explosives at the entrance to the international airport.
So far, the death toll stands at 41, with 230 injured.