Explosion in Istanbul: Turkish authorities are looking for a woman

Turkey is shocked by the powerful explosion that occurred at noon on Sunday in a busy pedestrian street near Taksim Square in Istanbul.

From the explosion, 6 people lost their lives while the injured amount to 53, as stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He said in a press conference shortly before leaving for the G20 summit in Indonesia that

“Our people can rest assured that the culprits behind the attack will receive the punishment they deserve,” adding that initial information suggested “a woman played a role” in the attack. “It would be wrong to say that it is undoubtedly a terrorist attack, but the initial developments and the first information from my governor is that the attack smacks of terrorism,” added the Turkish president.

Unverified footage from social media shows a woman leaving a bag near pedestrians, followed by an explosion seconds later. However, authorities stressed that the investigation is in its early stages.

The explosion in Istanbul was a “terrorist act”.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Istanbul is talking about a terrorist act.

Also, the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office assigned the investigation to five prosecutors, while at the same time, a ban on broadcasting news related to the explosion was imposed.

In addition, the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into specific posts made on social media accounts about what happened.