The first afternoon of the Scottish school holidays meant the terminal at Glasgow airport was packed with families queuing at check-in desks.

Outside the building’s glass doors travellers waiting to be collected saw an erratically driven dark green Jeep Cherokee approach at speed. The Asian driver began to rev the engine furiously before wrenching the wheel and smashing the tough four by four vehicle directly into the terminal building.

Security bollards blocked the path of the vehicle as the driver tried to ram the main doors. The air became heavy with the stench of petrol. Driver and passenger, described as burly Asian men, leapt from the vehicle and it burst into flames.

Airport staff described the men as screaming “Allah” as the driver doused the burning vehicle with more fuel soaking himself in the process. His passenger began to smash bottles of petrol and his own clothes now ablaze the driver fell to the floor as police, passengers and airport staff reacted.

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• Pictures: Glasgow airport attack

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Multimedia

• Pictures: Glasgow airport attack

Thomas Conroy, a maintenance worker at the airport, described the attack: “One man started fighting with five other people,” he said. “Then I saw the car on fire. There was a huge bang and the whole car went up.

“There were more explosions then the terminal itself caught fire. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Bystanders described petrol and gas canisters in the car, which rammed into the building at about 30mph.

Stuart Laurie said: “It was total madness. The car hit the doors then something exploded. The flames were 20ft high. One of them was spraying petrol everywhere.”

Jackie Kennedy, a 46-year-old beautician from Glasgow who was heading to Dubai, had just checked in when she heard the crash.“One of the men got out. He looked like he was from the Middle East and was talking gibberish. He had a big smirk on his face. He lifted up what appeared to be a five-litre drum which I think had petrol in it and set himself on fire. His clothes were melting in front of my very eyes.

“The police tried to pounce on him but he fought back and was struggling with them. It was only when a member of the public punched him in the face that the police managed to restrain him.

“The police were trying to spray CS gas in his face but it was not working.”

Lynsey McBean, 26, from Ersk-ine, Renfrewshire, was due to fly out to Canada and witnessed the incident from yards away.

“We got there about 3 o’clock, just as it happened. My boyfriend was unloading golf clubs and we saw a green Cherokee drive straight into the front door of the airport but it got jammed.

“They were obviously trying to get it further inside the airport as the wheels were spinning and smoke was coming from them. One of the men, I think it was the driver, brought out a plastic petrol canister and poured it under the car. He then set light to it.

“At that point a policeman came over, the passenger got out of the car and punched him. I began to run away. But when I looked back several people had run over to try and stop the men.

Alison Spink, a trainee manager at Enterprise Car Rental, said there was “sheer panic”. “Smoke was billowing into the terminal and people began to cry and scream,” she said. “There was a mad rush for the exits and there were parents with children in their prams trying to rush down escalators. We were told to make a run for it.”

One of the first witnesses on the scene, Andy Gerritsen, a 50-year-old bank manager from Amsterdam, tried to help the driver, thinking he was the victim of an accident.

Gerritsen said he had tried to put his coat round him to put out the flames. “My first reaction was to try to help him but then he became very aggressive and was making gestures towards anyone who came near him.”

Steven Clarkson described knocking the man to the ground after police struggled to control him. “Police approached and tried to restrain the Asian fellow but he got up and started fighting. I managed to knock him to the ground and four policemen got on top and restrained him.

“He was disorientated when I knocked him down otherwise I don’t think I would have been able. He was a big fellow.”

The car passenger was being held at Govan high-security police station last night, while the driver was treated at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley.

Holidaymakers and airline staff were taken to a nearby hotel. Hands shaking as they sipped tea, they watched televi-sion news trying to make sense of the attack.

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