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At least 50 people have been killed and many more were wounded in suicide bombings at the main airport in Istanbul, Turkey's justice minister has said.

Two attackers opened fire before blowing themselves up at the entrance to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, an official said, citing information from the interior ministry.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency put around 60 people were wounded, six of them seriously.

Police fired shots to try to stop the attackers but they detonated their explosives, the officials said.

A witness told NBC News that he saw a police officer diving to tackle one of the attackers who then detonated his bomb.

He said based on initial information he had he could only confirm one attacker.

"According to information I have received, at the entrance to the Ataturk Airport international terminal a terrorist first opened fire with a Kalashnikov and then blew themself up," Mr Bozdag said.

The explosions are understood to have happened at the arrivals hall before the attackers would have gone through security checks, officials said.

Pictures posted on social media showed wounded people lying on the ground inside and outside the terminal buildings.

Video of explosion:
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Other social media footage showed crowds of people stuck inside shops at the airport.

Taxis were ferrying the wounded from the hospital and witness Ercan Ceyhan told CNN Turk he saw around 30 ambulances rush to the scene.

Flights to the airport have been diverted,

In recent months Turkey has suffered several attacks linked to Kurdish or Islamic State group militants.

The attacks include two bombings in Istanbul targeting tourists. Authorities blamed IS for the blasts.