ISTANBUL // Several people were killed and others wounded when a large explosion rocked central Istanbul on Tuesday, Turkish media reported.
A witness said there were body parts at the scene in Sultanahmet square, a major tourist attraction.
The cause of the explosion was not known.
Private NTV television said the explosion was close to a park that is home to a landmark obelisk. The state-run Anadolu Agency said several police and medics were sent to the area.
Police sealed the area, barring people from approaching in case of a second explosion.
The Sultanahmet neighborhood is Istanbul’s main sight-seeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace and Blue Mosque.
Erdem Koroglu, who was working at a nearby office at the time of the explosion, told NTV television he saw several people lying on the ground following the blast.
“It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,” Mr Koroglu said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.”
Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year.
More than 30 people were killed in an ISIL suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near Turkey’s border with Syria, in July.
Two suicide bombs in October outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally killed more than 100 people. It was Turkey’s deadliest attack. The prosecutor’s office said the attack was carried out by a local ISIL cell.
* Agencies
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