Car bomb blast rips through police bus leaving 11 dead in historic Istanbul

A car bomb attack on a police bus in Istanbul has killed at least 11 people, seven of them officers. The explosion took place close to the Vezneciler metro station, which is within walking distance of some of the city’s main historical sights, including the famed Suleymaniye Mosque. The force of the blast caused the police bus - carrying rapid-response officers - to overturn. "Seven police and four citizens lost their lives,“ the city’s governor, Vasip Sahin, said at the scene in the Beyazit district. Thirty-six people were injured.

There was a loud bang, we thought it was lightning but right at that second the windows of the shop came down.

A local shopkeeper

It is the fourth major bombing in Turkey’s biggest city this year - two targeting security forces and the other two targeting tourists. The violence has led to a sharp dip in tourism, damaging the economy. Mr Sahin did not comment on who may be behind the attack, but the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has been targeting police and military personnel with bombs since July, after a fragile peace process between it and the government collapsed. Islamic State has also been blamed for a series of bombings in Turkey.

They are cold-heartedly exploding bombs on a Ramadan day.

Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu

Istanbul bus