Dead and many injured: Erdogan speaks of a "sneaky attack" in Istanbul

An explosion in Istanbul kills several people and injures dozens. The Turkish broadcasting authority Rtük imposed a news blackout, President Erdogan speaks of an attack and a “smell of terror” in the air.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described an explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal shopping street as a “sneaky attack”. At least six people were killed and 53 injured, Erdogan said. So a bomb exploded.

It might be wrong to speak definitively of terrorism, the President said. But the governor of the metropolis, Ali Yerlikaya, told him there was a “smell of terror” in the air. According to Yerlikaya, the explosion happened at 4:20 p.m. local time. Rescue workers and the police are on site in large numbers, the state broadcaster TRT reported. Helicopters flew over Beyoglu and neighboring districts in the early evening.

The Turkish Minister of Communications, Fahrettin Altun, said investigations into the background to the crime were ongoing. People in the city have been urged to avoid the area. Surrounding streets should also be kept free of traffic, reports TRT, citing authorities.

At the time of the explosion, the pedestrian zone was crowded. A loud bang can be heard in a video shared online. Then you see flames and people fleeing. Other images shared on social media show shattered windows and people lying on the ground, as well as a large black crater. The street is a tourist hotspot in the European part of the Turkish metropolis.

Shortly after the accident, the Turkish media initially did not report on the explosion. The Turkish broadcasting authority Rtük imposed a temporary news ban on the media. Reports of the explosion should be avoided so as not to cause fear and panic among the population, the letter said in the afternoon. The broadcasters CNN Türk and TRT, for example, then interrupted their reports on the explosion on the popular shopping street. The street is a tourist hotspot in the center of the European part of the Turkish metropolis, which is often crowded even on Sundays.

In 2016, a suicide bomber blew himself up on Istiklal, killing four people and injuring 39 others. According to the Turkish government, the assassin had connections to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. The group itself did not claim responsibility for the crime.