This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/10/bomb-outside-istanbul-football-stadium-causes-multiple-casualties
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Turkey: over a dozen feared dead after Istanbul blast | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A suspected car bomb outside a major soccer stadium in Istanbul has left more than a dozen people dead according to security sources in the Turkey. | |
| Witnesses said more police were deployed and had cordoned off the area as smoke rose from the newly built Beșiktaș Stadium. They said gunfire had also been heard in what appeared to have been an armed attack on police. | |
| Broadcaster NTV said 38 people had been wounded but gave no details of any death toll and said the explosion seemed to have targeted a police vehicle that was leaving the stadium after fans had dispersed. | |
| Speaking earlier, Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said the wounded were police officers. “It is thought to be a car bomb at a point where our special forces police were located, right after the match at the exit where Bursaspor fans exited, after the fans had left,” he said. “We have no information on the number of dead. God willing, we hope there won’t be any. The wounded are police.” | |
| Prime minister Binali Yıldıriım and Istanbul governor Vasip Şahin had been notified, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said. | Prime minister Binali Yıldıriım and Istanbul governor Vasip Şahin had been notified, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said. |
| Two witnesses told Reuters they had heard two blasts outside the Vodafone Arena, which lies on the edge of the Bosphorus in central Istanbul and is home to the Besiktas soccer team. A Reuters photographer said many riot police officers were seriously wounded. | Two witnesses told Reuters they had heard two blasts outside the Vodafone Arena, which lies on the edge of the Bosphorus in central Istanbul and is home to the Besiktas soccer team. A Reuters photographer said many riot police officers were seriously wounded. |
| “It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque,” said Omer Yilmiz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahce mosque. “People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter. It was horrible.” | “It was like hell. The flames went all the way up to the sky. I was drinking tea at the cafe next to the mosque,” said Omer Yilmiz, who works as a cleaner at the nearby Dolmabahce mosque. “People ducked under the tables, women began crying. Football fans drinking tea at the cafe sought shelter. It was horrible.” |
| Armed police sealed off streets around the stadium. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burnt-out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the building. Images broadcast on television showed more than a dozen ambulances on a street hugging the stadium and a police helicopter flying overhead with its search lights on. | Armed police sealed off streets around the stadium. A police water cannon doused the wreckage of a burnt-out car and there were two separate fires on the road outside the building. Images broadcast on television showed more than a dozen ambulances on a street hugging the stadium and a police helicopter flying overhead with its search lights on. |
| Turkish soccer team Bursaspor said none of its fans appeared to have been injured in the explosion. “We have contacted our fan groups. There appear to be no injuries among our fans. We wish injured citizens a quick recovery,” Bursaspor said in a statement on its Twitter account. | Turkish soccer team Bursaspor said none of its fans appeared to have been injured in the explosion. “We have contacted our fan groups. There appear to be no injuries among our fans. We wish injured citizens a quick recovery,” Bursaspor said in a statement on its Twitter account. |
| In a tweet, Turkey’s transport minister, Ahmet Arslan, referred to the bombing as a terrorist attack. | In a tweet, Turkey’s transport minister, Ahmet Arslan, referred to the bombing as a terrorist attack. |
| “I condemn the terror attack on Besiktas, Istanbul, and wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote. | “I condemn the terror attack on Besiktas, Istanbul, and wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote. |
| Turkey has been hit by a series of bombings in recent years, some blamed on Islamic State militants, others claimed by Kurdish and far-leftist militant groups. | Turkey has been hit by a series of bombings in recent years, some blamed on Islamic State militants, others claimed by Kurdish and far-leftist militant groups. |
| There was mounting speculation, less than an hour after the explosions, that rebels with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) or an offshoot of the group were behind the attack. | |
| The organisation has been calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey since the late 1970s and in recent months, following the botched coup against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July and the crackdown that ensued, has stepped up targeted assaults against police. | |
| Erdal Guven, editor in chief of Diken an independent news portal based in Istanbul, said the brazen attack bore all the hallmarks of the group. “Early suspicions would fall on the PKK or an affiliated organisation, TAK, which always targets the police and has been behind similar bombings in Ankara,” he told the Guardian. “The other suspect, ISIS, attacks indiscriminately. It doesn’t care if civilians are killed as well. This seems to have been specifically aimed at the police.” |