CCTV footage shows UK schoolgirls in Istanbul

London, March 1

New CCTV footage show three runaway UK schoolgirls on the Turkish leg of what is believed to have been their journey to join the Islamic State in Syria.

Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, flew from here to Istanbul on February 17. The images show them waiting at Bayrampasa bus station.

Scotland Yard believes the Bethnal Green Academy students from East London are now in Syria.

They are thought to have been met at the border by IS militants. The girls waited in the offices of two bus companies at the station before taking a bus to Urfa - close to the Syrian border - on February 18, the BBC reported today.

From there, they are thought to have been driven to a border crossing point by people smugglers.

Time codes on the CCTV images suggest the girls were at the bus station, which is on the European side of Istanbul, for nearly 18 hours. — PTI