Terrified travelers tucked into alcoves and hid behind pillars.

As the attackers fired shots and detonated explosives at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, people scattered to get away from the chaotic scene.

"There's been a bomb!" travelers warned each other.

"Someone's coming with a gun."

Three terrorists armed with bombs and guns killed at least 41 people at the busy airport in Turkey. Of the three bombers in the attack, two were at the international terminal, and the third terrorist was in the nearby parking lot, a Turkish official told CNN. All three detonated suicide vests.

There was little time to make sense of what was unfolding for the many passengers and staff at the airport."It was like hell," said Mine Iyidinc, a witness. "There was panic everywhere. We did not understand that it was a terrorist attack."

At the airport, Will Turner had been in the baggage area when he felt a shake, which he described as a "dull thud" from two loud explosions. Turner sensed something was off because a shock wave seemed to reverberate throughout the airport."It was loud enough to know something was not right," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

About a minute later, he felt the third explosion. This time, he saw "a flash of a fire ball" inside the terminal. Panic and screams engulfed the room as Turner and other passengers fled. Read more