About 30 people were injured in a massive blast in Turkey's
largest city of Istanbul on Sunday, semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.
The explosion occurred at around 7:00 PM (16:00 GMT) in a
garbage bin in front of a shopping center in Istanbul's Bakirkoy
district, said the report.
About 30 people were injured in the powerful blast, some in
serious condition, the report added.
Ambulances and firefighters had rushed to the scene of explosion
and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Police were carrying out investigation into the blast, said
Anatolia.
The exact cause for the blast was not immediately clear, but the
police suspected of a bomb attack.
Clashes have soared recently between Turkish security forces and
militants of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) as riots erupted in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the
United States and the European Union.
Turkish security forces have been battling an armed campaign by
the PKK in the southeast since 1984 as more than 30,000 people have
been killed in the clashes between the two sides. Violence has
increased after the PKK ended a six-year unilateral cease-fire in
June 2004.
(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2006)
