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Death toll from Istanbul blast up to six - Erdogan

Turkish President said that 53 received wounds

© REUTERS/Kemal Aslan

ANKARA, November 13. /TASS/. The death toll from the blast in Istanbul’s Istiklal Caddesi pedestrian street has risen to six, and the number of those injured has increased to 53, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

"As a result of the Istanbul blast, six people were kills, 53 received wounds," he told a news conference before leaving for Indonesia.

"According to preliminary data, the Istiklal blast has signs of terrorism. Those responsible for what has happened in Istanbul’s Istiklal will be duly punished," he stressed, adding that a woman is suspected of being behind the blasy.

According to Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, the blast occurred in the Istikala Caddesi pedestrian street in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district at about 16:20 local time. The cause of the blast has not yet beet identified but the city’s prosecutor’s office considers a terror attack as one of the reasons. According to the Mynet news portal, the blast might have been caused by an unattended bag stuffed with explosive substances.

The Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian street with lots of restaurants, cafes, shops, hotels, and several museums is very popular both among the locals and among tourists. It runs 1.4 kilometers from the Taksim Square in Beyoglu in the European part of Istanbul toward the Golden Horn. Several diplomatic missions, including Russia’s consulate general, are located in this street.

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