Holiday Brits tell of horror as grenades shook their hotel during failed coup in Turkey
265 dead and 3000 rebels held in Turkey coup
A BRITISH tourist told last night how a grenade exploded in a hotel room below him as the failed coup erupted in Turkey.
Richard Holland, 47, and his wife reeled in terror as the building was rocked by gunfire and Army helicopters buzzed their resort.
Explosions shook the Club Turban hotel in Marmaris where the couple were on a £3,000 two-week break.
The pair feared it was a terrorist attack and had no idea they were caught up in a plot by Army rebels to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The plotters who stormed the building blundered as the President had been staying at a different hotel a kilometre away and quickly headed back to Istanbul.
After hearing a grenade explode in the apartment below him the grandfather-of-two from Bristol realised rebel fighters were in his hotel
Around 265 people died in Friday night’s attack which targeted Istanbul. Plotters, government forces and civilians were all killed in the night of bloodshed.
Nearly 3,000 plotters were rounded up, the president said yesterday.
Bristol grandad Richard, who was woken up by the early morning blitz, said: “We didn’t have a clue the President was nearby. We looked on the balcony and the helicopter was on the waterfront.
“There were Black Hawks with no lights. Twenty minutes later gunfire started outside our room, semi-automatics and small arms.
“We got on the floor and got on the phone to reception but there was no answer.
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“Then a grenade went off in the room underneath us. We didn’t want to stick our heads out of the door. The force made pictures fall of the wall in our room. There was a crack up the wall. We heard a lady cry. It was a scary time.”
The couple finally left unharmed, picking their way through scattered spent shells.
Richard said: “The hotel staff told us rocket-propelled grenades got fired at the helicopter we saw but missed it.”
Another British holidaymaker, Daniel Worley, 22, from Northamptonshire, said he and friend Gemma Errington locked themselves in their hotel room.
Daniel said: “It was terrifying. We heard a helicopter overhead and gunshots and just locked ourselves in. Earlier we were sat on the balcony and could hear protesters. We panicked because we found out the president was on vacation in Marmaris.”
Despite the terror, the pair decided to continue their holiday yesterday.
President Erdogan speaks to his supporters in front of his residence after a failed coup attempt in Istanbul
Two other Brits, Rhonda Jones and friend Shelley Faughnan, said they scrambled under their hotel beds as gunfire rattled outside in Marmaris.
Scottish international footballer Rhonda, 37, who plays for Rangers women’s team, told her mum Isabelle: “It was terrifying.”
Dozens of pupils from a school in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, were left stranded after their flight from Ataturk airport was cancelled. A spokeswoman for the school said: “The students are safe and well.”
The children spent the night in the airport and were waiting for a connecting flight to South Africa yesterday.
There are believed to be around 50,000 British tourists in Turkey and 250,000 UK nationals living and working there.
The grenade exploded on the floor below Richard Holland's room
President Erdogan, in power since 2003, had watched the mayhem unfold from his hotel room in Marmaris before returning to Istanbul to launch his crackdown on the rebels. Violence and explosions rocked capital Ankara and Istanbul.
A bomb exploded at the Turkish parliament building.
A Turkish Air Force F-16 jet shot down a Sikorsky helicopter over the capital. It had been hijacked by coup plotters.
Videos circulated on Twitter of helicopters firing at civilians and tanks crushing everything, including bodies, in their path.
After the uprising was ended the President claimed the rebels, inspired by exiled US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, had “penetrated the armed forces and the police, over the past 40 years”.
The Foreign Office yesterday urged Britons to “stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant.”
British Airways cancelled all flights to and from the country.
A spokesman said: “We’re keeping flights under review.”
Customers affected by the cancellations are being offered a refund or the chance to rebook, while people currently booked for today or tomorrow can rebook at no cost, subject to availability, the airline said.
Turkish Airlines insisted their services were back to normal yesterday.
The international community was stunned by the coup attempt in a key country maintaining stability in the Middle East.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he has spoken to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to underline support for the country’s “democratic elected government and institutions”.
US President Barack Obama said he had called a National Security Team meeting to assess the situation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the coup and appealed for an end to violence.