A GROUP of British schoolchildren threw themselves to the ground when they were caught in the Turkish coup chaos at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
The students, from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, were told to “get down” when someone shouted “gun” on Friday night, a parent claimed.
Parent Lisa Ledbury, 43, said the students from Arthur Terry School were “petrified” and had seen tanks on the runway and heard explosions.
Writing on Facebook, she said: “The longest night of our lives. All the Arthur Terry South Africa trip kids arrived at Ataturk airport just before the news reported a military coup. All flights were grounded.
“They have seen tanks on the runway, fighter jets flying over and heard the explosion that was reported as a bomb.
“At one point all chaos ensued when someone shouted ‘gun’ and everyone started to run with people shouting ‘get down, get down’.
“They are so scared and getting absolutely no information whatsoever from Turkish Airlines. The British embassy cannot even get hold of anyone from the airline.
“The airline staff have vanished, they have not had food or drinks and are petrified. Turkish airlines are not answering their phones, messages or tweets.
“PLEASE COPY AND PASTE TO YOUR STATUS in the hope that they can get help and we can get our kids out of this Godforsaken place.”
It comes as holidaymakers described gunfire and explosions rattling their hotels as the Turkish military last night tried to overthrow its government.
Others say normally busy resorts are now empty as hundreds await an opportunity to leave after disruptions to airports and international flights.
Jonny Hogg, a former British journalist, tweeted he could hear loud explosions shaking his apartment in Ankara.
He later said he could hear “sporadic” gunfire, but by the morning things had quietened down.
“Large explosion close to us here,” he tweeted. “Windows shook. Constant overflights from jets now, in northern #Ankara, and explosions still audible in distance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment