Ambulances rushed to the scene on busy Istiklal Avenue, which police had quickly cordoned off. The area, in the Beyoglu district of Turkey’s largest city, was packed as usual over the weekend with shoppers, tourists and families. Video obtained by Reuters shows the moment the explosion occurred at 4:13 p.m. (1313 GMT), sending debris into the air and leaving several people lying on the ground, while others fled the scene. “Efforts to defeat Turkey and the Turkish people through terrorism will fail today as they did yesterday and as they will fail again tomorrow,” Erdogan told a news conference in Istanbul. “Our people can be sure that the culprits behind the attack will be punished as they deserve,” he said, adding that initial information suggested that “a woman played a role” in it. “It would be wrong to say that this is undoubtedly a terrorist attack, but the initial developments and the initial information from my governor is that it smacks of terrorism,” he added. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. However, Istanbul and other Turkish cities have been targeted in the past by Kurdish separatists, Islamist militants and other groups, including in a series of attacks in 2015 and 2016.
“THE PEOPLE FROZEN”
[1/5] Police work at the scene after an explosion on the busy Istiklal street in Istanbul, Turkey, November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan Reuters footage showed people tending to victims after the blast, and later white-suited investigators collecting material from the scene, where pieces of a concrete pot were strewn across the boulevard. “When I heard the explosion, I was petrified, people froze, looking at each other. Then people started running away. What else can you do,” said Mehmet Akous, 45, a restaurant worker in Istiklal. “My relatives called me, they know I work in Istiklal. I reassured them,” he told Reuters. A helicopter flew over the scene and several ambulances were stationed in nearby Taksim Square. The Turkish Red Crescent said the blood was being transported to nearby hospitals. If confirmed, it would be the first major bomb blast in Istanbul in several years. Twin bombings outside an Istanbul football stadium in December 2016 killed 38 people and injured 155 in an attack claimed by an offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Condemnation of the attack and condolences for the victims from many countries including Greece, Egypt, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. European Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter that he sent his condolences to the victims after the “terrible news”. Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara, written by Jonathan Spicer. Edited by Gareth Jones Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
