Moments of Terror: My Story of the Karachi Airport Attack

There are many moments which a person remember those are horrifying and they are hard to forget as well. Such moments gives you a chill and uncomfortable feeling and also gives you a good lesson too. It makes you stronger mentally and physically. Such situations required quick action and smart thinking, also when it comes to save your life, it becomes really difficult to think about anyone else and that is the best test of your life. I could have been in such situations a lot of times but what comes in my mind first was the terror I experienced very closely in Karachi airport attack.

It was 8th of June, 2014. I used to work in national airline’s contact center which was located near old terminal which is very close to Karachi airport, you can say it is the part and area of Karachi Airport. The whole area is under airport security team, infront of our building, its engineering department building. The whole place is under strict security. Airports are one of the most secured places and why not, they have delegations and foreigners travelling every now and then. But on this day, something terrifying was waiting for all of us.

I was having an evening shift which will be off by 12 midnight. At around 11 pm, unexpectedly, we heard a lot of gunfire and blasting sounds. We rushed to the main gate to check what is going on. We were on first floor and were around 40-45 agents working that night in which 20-25 were girls. There was a glass wall through which we saw gunfires and bomb blasts. We shouted at each other to lie down on the floor and stop moving. One of us immediately rushed to off the lights. It was really horrifying and scary moment. It looks like there was an attack by some terrorists. We closed all lights and asked all the agents to be silent and avoid any movements.

Gun shot sounds and many other sounds of different weapons were nonstop making all of too much worried, if any of the terrorist or militant enter in our building, what we are going to do. We started planning and working on our strategies in case we see anyone coming to our building. It was all happening just opposite of our building. We were thinking to run away from backside of the building but it was risky too. One of the seniors advised not to go out of the building unless any instructions from Government officials. In the meantime, we got a call from our CEO that terrorists have attacked the old terminal and entered airport through opposite building so be careful and don’t allow anyone to go outside or open doors for anyone who come close to our building.

It was all dark, just the sounds and lights of weapons were surrounding the place. We saw one of the terrorist on the top of the opposite building, we all went inside in case if he fires or shoot rocket launcher at our side, it will blow our building. Too many thoughts at the same time. After one hour or so, military started counterattack and pushed terrorist to surrender. It was not easy because we were unaware how many are there and they all were spread into different directions. Military and our soldiers started hunting them one by one.

When I saw the soldiers, I was very much in relief. Still there was too much of blasting and gunfires. They put fire on the top of the building and also put fire in couple of hangers. This was a disaster and very bad for the ones who locked themselves in there. Army took over and they managed to clear the situation till sunrise. However, I was back home by 4 am because our driver managed to reach the office through alternate routes and took us back to our homes by 3:30 when the situation was under control. Sadly, there were many casualties and too much of damage. Those 3-4 hours were very crucial and one of the worst situations I have ever seen however, these moments taught me how to control and be patient and not to overthink, just keep it simple when nothing is in your hand. Hope for the best and act promptly when needed. Life keeps on teaching lessons and this one was very terrifying.