Bike bomb injures 8 at Istanbul bus stop
Source: Agencies |
May 27, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A BOMB mounted on a bicycle near a bus stop exploded during morning rush hour in Istanbul yesterday, injuring eight people, including a police officer, officials said.
Several ambulances rushed to the scene on a multi-lane thoroughfare in a busy commercial section of the city. Television footage showed medics moving a woman with a neck brace on a stretcher into a hospital.
Police Chief Huseyin Capkin said the bomb was not a powerful one, but was still designed to cause moderate destruction. Police were investigating whether the target was a police training school nearby.
Huseyin Avni Mutlu, Istanbul's governor, said police were also investigating whether the bomb was time or remote-controlled. "Our consolation is that no one was killed," Capkin said.
The police chief said one of the injured was a policeman who was passing by. He said none of the injured was in a life-threatening condition. One woman however, lost a leg in the blast while another sustained severe burns to her face, the Dogan and Anatolia news agencies reported.
CNN-Turk television said the explosion occurred as a bus passed by, shattering its rear windows and injuring passengers in the back of the vehicle.
Five vehicles in total were damaged in the blast, Capkin said. Fearing a secondary blast, police sealed off the area with yellow tape and bomb disposal experts arrived. Investigators searched for clues. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the police chief refused to say who may be behind the attack.
A Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey and has carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past. The rebels' jailed leader has warned of more violence if their demands for negotiations are not met after elections on June 12.
Several ambulances rushed to the scene on a multi-lane thoroughfare in a busy commercial section of the city. Television footage showed medics moving a woman with a neck brace on a stretcher into a hospital.
Police Chief Huseyin Capkin said the bomb was not a powerful one, but was still designed to cause moderate destruction. Police were investigating whether the target was a police training school nearby.
Huseyin Avni Mutlu, Istanbul's governor, said police were also investigating whether the bomb was time or remote-controlled. "Our consolation is that no one was killed," Capkin said.
The police chief said one of the injured was a policeman who was passing by. He said none of the injured was in a life-threatening condition. One woman however, lost a leg in the blast while another sustained severe burns to her face, the Dogan and Anatolia news agencies reported.
CNN-Turk television said the explosion occurred as a bus passed by, shattering its rear windows and injuring passengers in the back of the vehicle.
Five vehicles in total were damaged in the blast, Capkin said. Fearing a secondary blast, police sealed off the area with yellow tape and bomb disposal experts arrived. Investigators searched for clues. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the police chief refused to say who may be behind the attack.
A Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey and has carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past. The rebels' jailed leader has warned of more violence if their demands for negotiations are not met after elections on June 12.
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