A Manchester mum stranded at a Turkish airport says she prayed for her children’s lives as military jets screeched overhead.

Saima Alvi says both Muslim and non-religious passengers joined a communal prayer as four fighter planes rocketed over Istanbul Atatürk Airport at around 3am this morning.

The teacher says her two children were terrified when bullets were fired at the window of the transit lounge - a move which caused a ‘mad panic’.

She said the smell of gunpowder hung heavy in the air as she tried to find a safe place for her severely disabled daughter Nusayba, 12 and her ten-year-old son Muddathir.

Saima, from Altrincham , described seeing military tanks rolling across the runway during the chaos.

The young family are still holed up at the airport along with hundreds of other passengers who have been advised to remain there by the Foreign Office.

Describing the moment jets screeched over the airport Saima, 47, said: “When we were hearing that the coup was thwarted we heard the president was landing here at the airport. There were about four military jets which sounded like explosions. We thought we might be bombed because they were flying very low.

“One man got up and started praying aloud and did a big communal prayer with about 15 of us. Another man who was not Muslim later said it had soothed everyone.

“It brought out the best of humanity as everyone was trying to help each other.”

Saima Alvi and her young children hid for shelter when fighter jets screeched over the airport in Istanbul during an attempted coup

Saima was travelling with her children and Nusayba’s nanny Naseem on Friday night to visit her husband in Qatar. She was due to spend two hours in Istanbul on a layover but soon realised she could not continue on her journey.

She said: “We just landed as everything happened. Lots of people were congregated around the TV screen. I was in London for the 7/7 bombings so I remember the same thing happening then.

A man stands in front of a tank in the entrance to Istanbul's Ataturk airport

“We were seeing on the television that the military were taking over the bridges in Istanbul but we didn’t think they would take over the airport.

“Suddenly after about an hour people were turning up at the airport and we could see military tanks. I could hear chanting and didn’t know if it was the military - I now realise it was the public.

“We could see hundreds of people congregating and chanting. Just as we moved away from the window there were gunshots and the window behind me was hit by 12 bullets. One lady shouted ‘get down’ and one window shattered.

A Turkish army tank enters the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey

“There were no airport staff around. We could smell the gunpowder. Other people started screaming and there was a mad panic. I thought the military were shooting at us.

“I told my son to get under a chair and I was so worried about what to do next to protect them. People were crying. I was trying to work out what to do next.”

Saima - who is vice chair of the British Muslim Heritage Centre, in Whalley Range - says she worked hard to think of escape routes incase the building collapsed or the airport was bombed.

She said: “We saw a lot of people chanting with a flag and military tanks on the runway.

“I found a safe place under a check-in desk and put the children there.

“My son was saying ‘I’m scared mummy, I’m scared’ so I gave him prayers to read. But he then said ‘this will make a good story’ if I survive’.”

Saima said she was so convinced the situation was life-threatening that she even performed the last rights prayers.

Turkish tanks enter Ataturk Airport in Istanbul

Despite her terrifying ordeal, the school governor said she was heartened by the kindness of strangers who offered food and comfort to each other.

She added: “Everybody there was trying to help each other. It was a great show of humanity.

“When I called the British consulate I almost broke down. I am quite stoic but I didn’t realise the gravity of what happened. We are lucky to be alive.

“We have been told to stay here. We are afraid to leave the airport because we don’t know what is going on. We are in limbo.”

Saima’s three daughter’s were due to meet her at the airport on Saturday morning but their flight from Manchester was cancelled.

Her nanny Naseem is due to fly to Sri Lanka for her son’s wedding tomorrow morning but fears she will be trapped in Turkey.

A message on the Turkish Airlines website states: “Upon the call of our President and Commander-In-Chief H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, our operations at Istanbul Atatürk Airport have gone back to routine operation conditions.

“We kindly ask our passengers to check our official communication channels for new information in order to avoid any inconvenience.”