Explosion at Turkish Airport Kills One: Cause Unknown
An explosion on the tarmac at an Istanbul airport damaged a Pegasus Airlines plane (not pictured), leaving one person dead and another injured. (Photo: Adrian Pingstone/Wikipedia)
One person is dead and a second injured after an explosion on the tarmac at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport earlier today. Turkish police are still investigating the incident and have yet to determine whether it was a bomb or a mechanical malfunction.
No passengers were onboard the Pegasus Airlines plane when the blasts went off (witnesses claim to have heard three in a row), but the explosion killed an aircraft cleaner and damaged five other planes hundreds of yards away.
Pegasus Airlines has released a statement:
On 23 December 2015 at 02.05am, there was an explosion at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and the cause is yet unknown. As a result of the explosion, 2 of cleaning staff members who were onboard a Pegasus plane nearby were injured and taken to hospital.
We would like to express our great sadness to have received the news that our colleague Ms Zehra Yamac has lost her life in the incident. We extend our thoughts and deepest sympathy to her family and friends during this difficult time. Our second colleague Ms Canan Burgulu is at the hospital receiving treatment for her injuries.
In a Reuters article, Turkey’s Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication, Binali Yildirim, is quoted as saying, “There was damage to five airplanes in total due to the impact of shrapnel. Weakness in the airport’s security is out of the question. All international security standards are being implemented."
Related: Airport Insecurity: The 10 Most Terrifying Airport Security Fails
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