ISTANBUL: Two explosions hit the Turkish city of Istanbul, killing at least 13 people and wounding 20 others late on Saturday, according to authorities.
Al Jazeera TV quoted security sources as saying that 13 people were confirmed dead following the attack, with the death toll likely to rise. Earlier, Turkish authorities said about 20 police were wounded.
Witnesses said police were deployed and had cordoned off the area as smoke rose from the newly built Besiktas Stadium. They said gunfire could be heard in what appeared to have been an armed attack on police.
The private NTV channel said the target of the attack was a bus for riot police.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman 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.” Soylu was quoted as saying by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
“We have no information on the number of dead. God willing we hope there won’t be any. The wounded are police.”
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.
Deaths reported in Istanbul after two blasts target police near stadium
Deaths reported in Istanbul after two blasts target police near stadium
