Istanbul Explosion Istiklal

WATCH: Six dead, dozens wounded when huge explosion rocks Istanbul street

by Fred T

A huge explosion Sunday rocked a pedestrian shopping street in Istanbul, Turkey that’s a major tourist destination.

So far reports from the country list six dead and 50 to more than 80 wounded. Erdogan has already called the blast an “attack” not an accident, which is apparent to anyone viewing footage.

Video and photos have been shared on social media, most notably from Turkish digital media venture Pusholder on Twitter and Telegram.

The CCTV footage from the site of the blast contains some very graphic images, which we trimmed for the video below. But please consider this a content warning anyway.

More:

https://twitter.com/nerdXunicorn/status/1591893479608967168

There are even more devastating videos and photos from the scene but I cannot stress enough how shockingly and immediately graphic this clip is: Click at your own risk.

This too may be graphic on zoom, I can’t quite tell:

Here’s a shot of the Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu surveying the aftermath.

Here are more details from The Independent:

The street, in the Beyoglu district, was – as usual for a weekend – crowded with shoppers, tourists and families.

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said the bomb attack “smells like terrorism” and said that initial information suggested “a woman played a part” in it.

He told a press conference in the city: “Efforts to defeat Turkey and the Turkish people through terrorism will fail today just as they did yesterday and as they will again tomorrow.

“Our people can rest assured that the culprits behind the attack will be punished as they deserve.”

“It would be wrong to say this is undoubtedly a terrorist attack but the initial developments and initial intelligence from my governor is that it smells like terrorism,” he added.

Turkish vice-president Fuat Oktay also suggested that the attack was carried out by a woman.

There is no reporting yet on whether any foreign tourists, American or otherwise, were injured in the explosion, but Istiklal street is reportedly heavily filled with Western businesses and businesspeople and tourists, even in the age of Erdogan. You can see a Starbucks in the footage above.

This post may be updated if more details become available.
 


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