At least six people have died and at least 53 have been injured in an explosion in central Istanbul on Sunday afternoon. The blast happened at 4:20 p.m. local time near Taksim Square, a place where a lot of people are in motion.
Surveillance footage shows the devastation and people fleeing in panic.
Norwegian Paal Zanstra Krokeide was only 100-150 meters away from the huge bang and witnessed the explosion with his 14-year-old son.
– I was terribly scared, it was completely unreal, he says to TV4 Nyheterna.
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay says in a statement that the explosion is considered an act of terrorism and that it was a suicide bomber.
– We believe that it is an act of terrorism that occurred as a result of an attacker, who we believe to be a woman, detonating the bomb, he says.
In the player above: Paal talks about the terrible experience in Istanbul.