Brit Istanbul airport attack survivor called fiancee to say goodbye as gunmen massacred 42 people
23-year-old knocked over by second blast feared he'd never speak to girlfriend again
A HUSBAND-to-be called his fiancee to tell her he loved her - fearing it would be the last time they spoke - as he watched while ISIS suicide bombers blew themselves up inside an airport terminal.
Duncan Bryce from Troon in Scotland called girlfriend Kubra Sidal as he watched the gun wielding fanatic spraying bullets from an AK47 at police inside Instanbul's Ataturk Airport terminal building on Tuesday night.
According to the , the 23-year-old Scot had also been shaken by two suicide bomb blasts - the second of which knocked him off his feet as he tried to flee the carnage.
He told the Scottish newspaper: "I called my fiancee to tell her I love her because I thought it might be the last time I got to speak to her.
"I didn’t know which way to run – through fear of bumping into another guy with a gun or a bomb."
The Brit says he made the heart-wrenching call to his girlfriend moments after the second blast - worried he might not make it out and wanted to speak to her one last time.
Duncan, who is from Troon but lives in Istanbul, went to the airport that night to pick up his friends
Laurence Mitchell and Sean Pieper who were flying in from his home town for a visit.
Little did they know that within a few minutes three suicide bombers would blow themselves up - killing 42 people and injuring 239 others.
Duncan had just got through the security checkpoint at the entrance to the arrivals hall when the first suicide bomber blew himself up.
He believes the blast happened near the spot where he had been standing seconds before.
The 23-year-old added: "If I’d been one minute later arriving, I’d have been outside when it went off. I hadn’t even got my belt back on after the security check."
Footage shows a man dressed all in black stalking the arrivals hall while appearing to fire a weapon, it was reported by Turkish news site .
The explosion shattered windows, sending glass flying everywhere, before workers from the security station began running into the terminal.
"They had blood all over them, crying," Duncan added.
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"I didn’t know what to do. I just copied what everyone else was doing, and everyone else dived to the ground.
"I was a bit panicked but luckily there was a German guy there keeping me calm.
"We turned round, and at the check-in part there was a man dressed all in black. He didn’t cover his face or anything.
"He had a Kalashnikov and was shooting at the police, who had arrived by that point. It all happened within five minutes.";
The Scot said following the first explosion he jumped up and headed for the exit - but a second blast sent him flying to the floor again.
He says he was lucky that "somehow I hadn't been injured".
Duncan called his wife-to-be following the second explosion - but it was still 20 minutes until he finally made it out of the terminal to safety.
He says he stopped on the way to warn a group of Somali travellers not to walk into the attack.
He claims cops were shouting at confused survivors to keep moving away from the building so Duncan returned to his flat six miles away where his panicked partner Kubra was waiting for him.
His mates however were still at the airport - having only just arrived as the attack began.
Laurence, 23, told the Daily Record: "By the time we got to passport control there were hundreds of people waiting on the other side and it felt like there was something wrong.
"Then a guy on the same side as us shouted: ‘Everyone get back! Everyone get back!’ We could see people running on the other side.
"We waited maybe another 40 minutes, then they started letting people through. We were herded through the terminal by hundreds of armed police.
"At first there was just a bit of ash on the floor, but then we saw the arrivals hall. It looked like something from a movie set.
"The roof had caved in, there was shattered glass everywhere and there was blood all over the floor.
"That’s when we realised the scale of what had happened."
He and pal Sean managed to eventually call Duncan and tell him they were okay - and later arrived at their flat unharmed.
Despite the devastating terrorist attack on the city's airport - and how close he came to death - Duncan says he has no plans to leave Turkey.
He added: "Istanbul is my home. I have a fiancee here and we’re getting married in July."
But another Scots expat, Engish teacher Sarah Conlon, 30, has made the painful decision to give up her adopted home.
Glaswegian Sarah, who has lived in Istanbul for five years, said of the latest attack: "It’s not new for us. This has happened regularly this year.
"There was a bomb really near my house in March, and one recently near the university campus where some of my friends work.
"People here are just worried and really sad. Istanbul is notably more quiet and the tourists seems to be in smaller numbers.
"I feel sad for my beautiful adopted city. It’s been through a lot and it hurts."
Three suicide bomb blasts ripped through Ataturk Airport in Istanbul at around 8pm in a Brussels-style massacre that has killed at least 42 people and left 239 others injured.
Thirteen foreign nationals are among the dead, including an Iranian and a Ukrainian, as well as 23 Turkish citizens.
The attackers stormed the building while raking passengers with bullets and then detonated their explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the X-ray security machines.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but experts believe it is the work of ISIS militants.
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