Security and ambulances report back to the scene of an explosion on Istanbul’s well-liked pedestrian Istiklal Avenue on Sunday. At least six folks have been killed.

Francisco Seco/AP

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Francisco Seco/AP

Security and ambulances report back to the scene of an explosion on Istanbul’s well-liked pedestrian Istiklal Avenue on Sunday. At least six folks have been killed.

Francisco Seco/AP

ISTANBUL, Turkey — At least six folks have been killed and 53 others injured in an explosion on Istanbul’s best-known industrial avenue, in line with Turkey’s chief.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Sunday’s blast on Istiklal Avenue as an assault and vowed to determine these accountable for it.

“Our people should be assured that the perpetrators of the incident on Istiklal Avenue will be punished as they deserve,” he mentioned. “The relevant units of our state continue to work to uncover the perpetrators of this treacherous attack and the groups behind it.”

There was no speedy rationalization or declare of accountability.

The U.S. condemned the explosion, describing it as an act of violence in a statement issued by the White House press secretary.

“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO Ally,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned within the information launch.

Five prosecutors have been assigned to research the explosion, state-run Anadolu information company mentioned.

Videos on-line present our bodies mendacity on the highway. Turkey’s media watchdog imposed a brief ban on reporting on the explosion — a transfer that stops broadcasters from exhibiting movies of the second of the blast or its aftermath. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has imposed comparable bans up to now, following assaults and accidents.

Istanbul has been the scene of assaults earlier than. On New Year’s Day in 2017, a gunman shot and killed 39 folks at a nightclub. Almost 80 others have been additionally injured. In 2003, a collection of suicide bombings was carried out utilizing vans at 4 places within the metropolis.

Material from the Associated Press was included on this report.