Police secure the area after an explosion in central Istanbul, Turkey January 12, 2016.
At least 10 people have been killed in an explosion at central Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet square, a major tourist attraction, the city governor’s office said.
Investigations were being conducted into the type of explosive which caused the blast and those responsible, the governor’s office statement said.
At least one witness reported that a suicide bomber was responsible for the explosion.
Ambulances rushed to the site in Sultanahmet square, close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, in a major tourist area of Turkey’s most populous city, ferrying away the wounded as police cordoned off streets.
Police are reportedly taking extra measures to protect people against the possibility of a second explosion. Al Jazeera‘s Emre Rende, reporting from Istanbul, said information was scarce immediately after the blast. “Eyewitnesses have said that the blast was heard from other neighbourhoods,” he said.
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