An explosion swept through a busy shopping street in Istanbul on Sunday, killing six people and injuring dozens in what the Turkish president said showed signs of a terrorist attack.
Police cordoned off an area around Istiklal, where crowds were dense on Sunday afternoon, and helicopters sirened over the city center.
“I was 50-55 meters away, suddenly there was the sound of an explosion. I saw three or four people on the ground,” witness Cemal Denizci, 57, told AFP.
“People ran away in a panic. The noise was huge. There was black smoke,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned a “heinous attack” that killed six and wounded over 50 others.
“It could be wrong if we say for sure that this is terror, but from the first indications … it smells like terror,” Erdogan told a news conference.
– Previously Targeted Area –
Authorities offered few details and no group immediately claimed the blast, but Turkish cities have had a history of attacks by Islamists and other groups.
Istiklal Avenue had previously been hit during a campaign of attacks in 2015-2016 targeting Istanbul and other cities, including the capital Ankara.
Blamed primarily on the Islamic State group and outlaw Kurdish militants, these bombings killed nearly 500 people and injured more than 2,000.
Sunday’s blast happened just after 4:00 p.m. (1300 GMT) on the famous Istiklal shopping street, popular with locals and tourists.
According to images posted to social media at the time of the blast, flames accompanied it and immediately sparked panic, with people running in all directions.
A large black crater was also visible in these images, as well as several bodies lying on the ground nearby.
According to an AFP video journalist at the scene, fearing a second blast, police set up a large security cordon to prevent access to the damaged area.
Istiklal in the historic district of Beyoglu, one of Istanbul’s most famous thoroughfares, is 1.4 kilometers (almost a mile) fully pedestrianised.
Crossed by an old tram lined with shops and restaurants, it is used by large crowds on weekends.
In the neighboring district of Galata, many shops closed early, while some passers-by who ran from the scene of the explosion had tears in their eyes.
A massive deployment of security forces also blocked all accesses, while a massive deployment of rescue workers and police could be seen.
A reaction quickly came from Greece, which “unequivocally” condemned the blast and offered its condolences to the government and people of Turkey.
