At around 14:20 Norwegian time, a powerful explosion hit the main street of Istiklal in Istanbul, Turkey. The street is close to Taksim Square. Several Turkish mediums report on the incident. The street was closed and those who were there before were evacuated, writes the Turkish newspaper Sozcu. Security forces came to the city. “Bomb attack” At least six people have been killed and 81 injured after the explosion, according to Vice President Huat Oktay. Around 21:00 Norwegian time, the authorities stated that 39 of the injured had been discharged from the hospital. Turkey’s Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca states that five injured have been admitted to the intensive care unit. The condition of two of them must be serious, says Koca. – We are doing our best to ensure that the injured get their health back as soon as possible. The bodies of unidentified people lie on the ground after the explosion in the busy Istiklal shopping street in Istanbul. Photo: KEMAL ASLAN / Reuters During a press conference about the incident, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the explosion a bomb attack. – It would be wrong to say for sure that this is terrorism, but according to the first information the governor conveyed to us, there is a smell of terrorism here, Erdogan said. Later, Vice President Fuat Oktay said they suspected a terrorist attack, with a woman involved. At 20:00 Norwegian time, Turkey’s Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag told the news channel A Haber that the authorities so far know that a woman sat on a bench for 40 to 45 minutes before she left the bench. A while later it crashed. – I am now doing everything to find out everything about him. We don’t know who she is, says Bozdağ to A Haber. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul wrote on Twitter that everyone is heartbroken and at a loss for words after the explosion. – I send my deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, and wish the survivors a speedy recovery. Should this be a terrorist attack, it will be the first time terror has hit the city since the mass shooting at the Reina nightclub on 1 January 2017. The police are working on the scene after the powerful explosion which, according to Turkey’s vice president, was a suicide bomb. Photo: KEMAL ASLAN / Reuters The authorities have placed a ban on publishing pictures and videos from the explosion, after the explosion or from the rescue work, write the authorities in a press release. – Avoid broadcasts that can create fear, panic and unrest in society and that serve the purpose of terrorist organisations, write the authorities. Istiklal is a busy shopping area where the shops are open late into the evening. The busy Istiklal shopping street after the explosion on Sunday. Photo: Emrah Gurel / AP Foreign Ministry: – No indications that Norwegians have been hit The Norwegian Foreign Ministry says that they currently have no indications that Norwegians have been hit in the explosion in Istanbul, writes NTB. Communications adviser at the Foreign Ministry Ragnhild H. Simenstad asks Norwegian citizens who are affected or need assistance to contact the Foreign Ministry’s operational center on 23 95 00 00. The embassy is monitoring the situation and is in contact with local authorities, she says to NTB. – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Norwegian citizens in Istanbul follow the local authorities’ recommendations, avoid large crowds and exercise vigilance, writes Simenstad. Life-saving first aid Picture on social media taken shortly after the powerful explosion shows several seriously injured and unconscious people. Remains of glass from broken shop windows lie across Brusteinsgata, where clothing shops are lined up. Even before the rescue team could reach the city, the photo and videos show how passers-by try to give life-saving first aid. At the same time, other residents run to get to safety after the explosion. People rush away from the shopping street after the explosion. Photo: Can Ozer / AP Sjokk Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter that he was shocked. – Shocking picture from Istanbul. My thoughts and deepest condolences go out to all those affected and the Turkish people. Nato stands in solidarity with our ally Turkey, he writes. Representatives from several countries, including Germany and Pakistan, have spoken out about the explosion. – The government and people of Pakistan express their deepest condolences to the brotherly people in Turkey for the loss of precious lives and send prayers for a speedy recovery to those injured, writes Pakistani President Shehbaz Sharif. Germany’s foreign minister has also caught wind of the explosion. – Terrible pictures are coming out of Istanbul. My thoughts go out to the people who just wanted to stroll in the Istiklal shopping street on a Sunday and became victims of a terrible explosion, writes Annalena Baerbock on Twitter. In an earlier version of the case, news wrote that the Minister of Justice in Turkey said it could be a suicide bomb. That’s not true. The Turkish Minister of Justice said that the authorities believed it was a female perpetrator who was behind the terror.
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