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| Thirteen die in Istanbul blasts | |
| (9 minutes later) | |
| At least 13 people have been killed in two explosions in Istanbul, which the governor of the Turkish city has described as terror attacks. | At least 13 people have been killed in two explosions in Istanbul, which the governor of the Turkish city has described as terror attacks. |
| The first blast occurred in a telephone booth and the second went off as crowds gathered. About 70 people were wounded. | The first blast occurred in a telephone booth and the second went off as crowds gathered. About 70 people were wounded. |
| TV footage showed bloodied men and women lying on the street and being carried to ambulances in blankets. | TV footage showed bloodied men and women lying on the street and being carried to ambulances in blankets. |
| The blasts occurred at 2200 local time (1900 GMT) in the Gungoren district of the city, popular with local people. | The blasts occurred at 2200 local time (1900 GMT) in the Gungoren district of the city, popular with local people. |
| The BBC's Sarah Rainsford says the area is popular with crowds taking a stroll on a warm evening. | The BBC's Sarah Rainsford says the area is popular with crowds taking a stroll on a warm evening. |
| Police, firefighters and natural gas teams are now in the area. Initial reports had suggested it may have been a gas leak. | |
| Hidden in bins | |
| But Governor Muammer Guler said he was "certain that this is a terror attack". | |
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| Aftermath of explosions in Istanbul | |
| He said the bombs had been placed in rubbish bins and that it was not a suicide bombing. | |
| "The blasts occurred in a very busy district and this raised the casualties. Thirteen citizens lost their lives in this heinous attack," he said. | |
| Editor of the New Anatolian newspaper, Ilnur Cevik, told the BBC there had been about 1,000 people in the area when the first, small bomb went off. | |
| "It attracted a lot of people to the area," he said. "Some were coming in to rescue and then a second bomb went off and that was where most of the casualties occurred." | |
| There have been no claims of responsibility for the blasts but Turkish cities have been targeted by various groups in recent years. | |
| In November 2003, more than 60 people were killed by a series of suicide bombings in Istanbul which the authorities linked to al-Qaeda. | |
| Kurdish rebels carried out a spate of attacks on tourist sites in Turkey in 2006, killing more than a dozen people. | |
| Were you in any of the areas affected? Send us your experiences by using the form below: | Were you in any of the areas affected? Send us your experiences by using the form below: |
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| Do not endanger yourself or others, take unnecessary risks or infringed any laws. | Do not endanger yourself or others, take unnecessary risks or infringed any laws. |