TURKEY: Death toll rises to 15 after two bomb explosions in Istanbul

Record ID: 359213

  • Title: TURKEY: Death toll rises to 15 after two bomb explosions in Istanbul
  • Date: 28th July 2008
  • Summary: (W5) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 28, 2008) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) TOP SHOT OF SCENE ISTANBUL GOVERNOR INVESTIGATING AT AREA SOUNDBITE (Turkish) ISTANBUL GOVERNOR, MUAMMER GULER, SAYING: "Both of them were placed in dustbins. Explosions happened between 10 and 12 minutes apart. As people gathered there after the first explosion and people were sitting in front of their shops,
  • Embargoed: 12th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA22ZG9J25G9W5TYOUUKZOFSJFD
  • Story Text: At least 15 people are killed when two bombs explode in a busy shopping district in Istanbul.
    Bombs killed 14 people and wounded 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday (July 27), just hours ahead of a court case over banning the ruling party that has plunged Turkey into political turmoil.
    Officials said one loud blast brought people into the streets of a busy shopping area, then a larger bomb hidden in a rubbish bin exploded a few minutes and a few metres away, tearing through the crowds.

    "Unfortunately 14 people lost their lives. We are still trying to get confirmation about the number of the wounded people. We will keep you informed as we got more concrete information," city governor Muammer Guler told reporters at the scene, in a pedestrianised street where families gather in the evenings to dine, sip tea and stroll.
    Television showed ambulances taking away the wounded in the Gungoren district of Turkey's biggest city, near the main airport. Among the rubble and glass of broken shop windows, men carried away the wounded and children cried.

    "At first a sound blast bomb exploded, then when people gathered the bomb in the dustbin exploded," Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told reporters.
    Turkish media put the toll at 14 dead and 140 wounded. Earlier, officials confirmed 13 dead and more than 100 wounded.
    Kurdish separatists, far-left groups and Islamists have all carried out bombings in Istanbul in the past.
    Turkey has been plunged into political and economic uncertainty by the court case over banning the ruling party that begins on Monday (July 28).
    The Constitutional Court will deliberate on whether the AK Party has engaged in Islamist activities and should be closed.
    Police have also been widening an investigation into a suspected ultra-nationalist group accused of seeking to overthrow the government. So far 86 people have been arrested.
    Turkey's military has been active in a campaign against Kurdish separatists in the southeast, saying earlier on Sunday its fighter jets had hit 12 rebel targets.
    Governor Guler said the "heinous attack" in Istanbul was not a suicide bombing. The city straddles Europe and Asia. Gungoren is on the European side.
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