Airlines workers sacrifice camel at airport

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ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Workers at Turkish Airlines celebrated a job well done by sacrificing a camel at Istanbul airport and their boss has now been suspended.

The national flag-carrier said on Wednesday maintenance staff killed the camel at Turkey's busiest airport after sending a batch of aircraft back to the supplier ahead of schedule.

Turkish Airlines has suspended the head of plane maintenance pending an investigation, the company said in a statement.

Turkish newspapers carried pictures of the camel, two rugs thrown over his hump, ahead of Tuesday's sacrifice. They also showed pictures of the beast chopped up into chunks of meat.

Top-selling daily Hurriyet said 700 kilos of camel meat were distributed among the workers. Turkish Airlines was accepted last week into the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance.

Many Turks slaughter animals, usually sheep or cattle, in an annual Muslim festival called the Festival of the Sacrifice, which falls in early January.