Eyewitnesses describe bomb blasts
Istanbul was rocked today by two huge explosions that left parts of the city a disaster area, eyewitnesses have said.
Workers have described the moment the ancient city was covered in a cloud of yellow smoke as emergency crews raced to the scene of the British consulate and the office of the London-based HSBC bank.
Bahar Buluc, a sales executive who works for the Hotel Mercure close to the British consulate, spoke about the moment the attack happened.
She said: “We were all working when the bomb went off. It was a big bomb, we heard the explosion, then about five seconds later we felt the tremor in our building, which is 17 storeys high.
“We don’t have anybody who is hurt here but just 300 metres away it’s a disaster.
“We haven’t been outside, the blast scene has been surrounded by police and ambulance workers. We only saw the yellow smoke that was rising after the explosion.”
She said the British consulate was in an old part of Istanbul and the main thoroughfare was a pedestrianised street filled with shops and a bazaar with alleyways running off it. The consulate was on one of these alleyways.
Ms Buluc added: “It’s one of the most crowded places in Istanbul and is very popular with tourists. We’ve heard the big (compound) wall of the British consulate has come down on a passing car.”
Other shopping centres across the city had been closed down as a precaution, she said.
Ertan Hatun, a worker at the Europe Leisure hotel, said he heard a loud bang outside the hotel, which is close to the British consulate.
He said: “We saw smoke. Suddenly people were running across the road, over a hundred people were running.
“We were shocked. We thought we were dying. We couldn’t see anywhere because of the explosion.
“Everybody is very sad because of the explosion, so many people are crying.”
Elker Unal, a worker at an Internet company in Istanbul, said his office was based between the two explosions.
“I heard the first explosion and as I went up to the window I heard another.
“I was afraid because my sister and her husband are in the city, but I heard that they are OK.”
He said a large section of the consulate building had fallen down on top of some cars.
