DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Eleven people reportedly wounded in a blast on Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian thoroughfare in Turkey’s biggest city.
An explosion on Istanbul’s popular pedestrian Istiklal Avenue has left people dead and injured, a senior official has said.
Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya tweeted that the explosion occurred at about 4:20 pm (13:20 GMT) on Sunday and that there were deaths and injuries, but he did not say how many. The cause of the explosion was not clear.
“There are strong suspicions that this was a suicide bomb, but we don’t have any official statement yet [on that],” Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said from Istanbul.
Broadcaster CNN Turk said in an early report that 11 people were injured.
A video posted online showed flames erupting and a loud bang, as pedestrians turned and ran away.
istiklal caddesi'ndeki patlama anı pic.twitter.com/3fM5KRQLWW
— fırat (@firatfstk) November 13, 2022
Other footage showed ambulances, fire trucks and police at the scene. Social media users said shops were shuttered and the avenue closed down.
The avenue is a crowded thoroughfare popular with tourists and locals, lined by shops and restaurants.
Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by ISIL (ISIS) and by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Al Jazeera’s Koseoglu said the explosion comes as a shock, as there have not been any recent warnings over attacks in the city.
“But security measures have remained high in the area,” she said.
More to follow.
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November 13, 2022 at 08:56PM
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Deadly blast hits busy area in central Istanbul - Al Jazeera English
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