A bomb exploded on a well-liked pedestrian street in Istanbul on Sunday, killing six folks and wounding dozens, Turkey’s president mentioned. The blast despatched folks fleeing as flames rose.
Footage posted on-line confirmed ambulances, fireplace vehicles and police on the scene on Istiklal Avenue, a usually crowded thoroughfare widespread with vacationers and locals and lined with retailers and eating places. In one video, a loud bang may very well be heard and flames may very well be seen, as pedestrians turned and ran away. Social media customers mentioned retailers had been shuttered and the avenue closed down.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to as the blast a “treacherous attack” and mentioned its perpetrators can be punished. In addition to the six useless, Erdogan mentioned one other 53 had been wounded, in keeping with info he acquired from the Istanbul governor.
Five prosecutors had been assigned to research the blast, state-run Anadolu information company reported.
Turkey’s media watchdog imposed short-term restrictions on reporting on the explosion — a transfer that bans using close-up movies and photographs of the blast and its aftermath. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has imposed related bans up to now, following assaults and accidents.
Turkey was hit by a string of lethal bombings between 2015 and 2017 by the Islamic State group and outlawed Kurdish teams.