A group of workers at Turkish Airlines were so happy to be rid of the last of a batch of troublesome planes that they sacrificed a camel at Istanbul airport. The national flag-carrier admitted on Wednesday that the staff had slaughtered the dromedary and that chief of the sacrifice-organizing group had been suspended pending an investigation.

The incident drew worldwide attention after Turkish newspapers carried pictures of the festooned camel before sacrifices and then the beast chopped up into meat chunks.

Top-selling daily Hurriyet reported that 700 kilos of camel meat were distributed among the airline workers.

Animals, usually sheep, goats, camels, and cows are sacrificed around the world during Id al-Adha, the annual four-day Muslim festival of sacrifice.

The sacrifices commemorate the story of Ibraham (Abraham) and his son, wherein Allah (God) tested Ibrahim by telling him to sacrifice the child, then allowed Ibrahim to sacrifice a ram instead. By custom, Muslim families are encouraged to keep a third of the resulting meat for themselves. Another third is to go to the needy, and the final third to friends and neighbors.