“Our nation should be sure that the perpetrators of the incident on Istiklal Street will be punished as they deserve,” Erdogan told reporters ahead of his departure to the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
“We cannot say for sure that it is a terror attack but there is a smell of it as far as I know. There is a woman who has taken part in the incident,” he said a live broadcast by the state-run TRT World.
In earlier remarks, Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya said the explosion took place at 4:20pm local time (1:20pm GMT).
“Our police, health, fire and AFAD [Disaster and Emergency Management] teams were sent to the scene. There are deaths and injuries. Developments will be shared with the public,” the governor said.
Police has closed Istiklal street due to the possibility of a second explosion, Turkish media reported.
Footage sent to Middle East Eye from the scene showed the mortally wounded bodies of one child and one man.
Footage shared on social media showed several bodies lying on the street. The source of the explosion remains unknown.
Meanwhile, the Turkish media regulator, RTUK, has imposed a ban on sharing footage of the explosion or reports except for government statements.
A statement by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said it has opened a probe into the incident.
“Due to the explosion in Istiklal Street today, an investigation has been started by our Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office and five public prosecutors have been appointed for that purpose,” the statement said.
“In addition, a broadcast ban was issued by the Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace for all visual and audio news and social networking sites related to the explosion.” (Agencies)
