ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A powerful explosion in the Turkish capital injured several people on Tuesday, CNN-Turk television reported. The cause of the blast, in one of the busiest commercial neighborhoods of Ankara, was not immediately known. | We'll have to wait and see |
NTV television, however, quoted Gov. Kemal Onal as saying an "accident" -- and not a bomb -- was likely to have caused the explosion. | "Round up the usual leaking propane tank suspects!" |
Several ambulances were dispatched to the area, CNN-Turk reported.
UPDATE: ANKARA, Turkey: A powerful explosion in a busy commercial neighborhood in the Turkish capital Tuesday, caused several casualties, CNN-Turk television reported. A CNN-Turk reporter at the site said he could see several bodies lying on the ground. Television footage showed medics tending to the injured and carrying people into ambulances on stretchers.
The cause of the blast, outside one of the oldest shopping malls of Ankara and near bus stops, was not immediately known. At least 15 people, some of them foreigners, were taken to a hospital nearby, hospital officials told CNN-Turk television. Although private NTV television earlier quoted Gov. Kemal Onal as saying that an "accident" may have caused the blast, the station later quoted police sources saying the most likely cause was a bomb. Police were considering the possibility of a suicide attack, CNN-Turk and NTV television reported.
| Likely a response to the anti-islamic protests |
"Police officials are investigating the cause, announcements will be made following the inspections," said Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin. The explosion shattered windows of the shopping mall and of buildings nearby, scattering furniture and debris onto the street. |