My father and sister were in Turkey for a week in Istanbul. I had only been to Istanbul once at this time and we decide to break our fast in the mosque like other people.My mum was back in Germany with my brother.

On my second day in Istanbul I was in the mosque with my sister as everyone began to prepare for the upcoming pray. Our dad was outside and would meet us inside.

We began to feel the building vibrate. I didn’t know what was going on. I immediately got a call from my dad and he told us to stay inside the mosque.

Everyone in the mosue was terrified because we didn’t know what was going on. After a while I came outside with my sister as everyone was panicking

My grandfather call us to ask if we were okay and told us that there had been a sucide bombing in Taksim. Taksim is a very popular tourist area and it had been bombed. It was a very devasting day for a lot of people.

My mum called and told us to come back home but we couldn’t. We tried to go back to our hotel and regroup and find out what to do next.

We had already paid for the hotel for a week. We ended up getting a refund and going to the house where my parents live. We even tried going to the Bazzar, a place which is normally full of peope was completely empty and traders wouldn’t come out and sell things.

We later found out in the news that a little girl lost her life due to the sucide bombing. Who ever was the sucicide bomber attacked Takskim known it a very busy street that is usually filled with tourist.

It was so sad for the people who lost there live and their family. Finding out about the child that passed away was very sad. Experiencing a bombing makes you paranoid. My family and I were lucky to have escaped unscathed. That little girl wasn’t as lucky.

May Allah be with all the victims of the bombing.

This story is told from the point of view of Tugba who experienced this with her family.