Death Toll in Istanbul Twin Bombing Jumps to 38, at Least 160 Wounded

World » SOUTHEAST EUROPE | December 11, 2016, Sunday // 07:15
Bulgaria: Death Toll in Istanbul Twin Bombing Jumps to 38, at Least 160 Wounded File photo, EPA/BGNES

At least 38 people, most of them police, died in the two blasts near a stadium in central Istanbul, Turkish authorities say.

The number of injured is more than 160, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu explained at a news conference. 

Eight of the victims were civilians. It is not clear how many of those wounded were police.

The blasts took place on two sides of the stadium.

After the detonation of a moving car targeting riot police near the stadium, the second attack, at the nearby Maçka Park just across the stadium, was supposedly carried out by a suicide bomber, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two explosions were followed by gunshots. The development came two hours after a football match between Bursaspor and Beşiktaş at the Vodafone Arena stadium.

Daily Sabah newspaper argues all wounded people are police officers.

NTV channel, quoted by Al Jazeera, says the target was a police vehicles.

On social media, footage appeared showing one of the blasts as seen from the distance.

 

English-language Hürriyet Daily News reports Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council as saying there is a gag order on reporting the development.

There are no immediate reports about Bulgarian casualties, Bulgarian bTV broadcaster quotes Sofia's Embassy to Ankara as saying.

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Tags: turkey, Istanbul, explosion

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