|
|
| By: Associated Press |
| Published: August 29, 2006 |
| |
An explosion in the center of one of Turkey's most popular tourist resorts killed three people and injured at least 20 others -- less than a day after bomb attacks struck another tourist center and an Istanbul neighborhood.
Authorities said they were looking for two suspects, suggesting that Monday's explosion in the Mediterranean town of Antalya was the result of a bomb, though they would not say that outright.
A militant Kurdish group that has threatened to target Turkey's vital tourism industry claimed responsibility for the two bomb attacks Sunday night and again warned tourists against coming to Turkey.
Monday's afternoon blast ripped the facade off at least one multistory building and several shops in the center of Antalya, not far from the beach, and triggered a huge fire that incinerated the bodies of two people who were apparently killed in the explosion. A third person died in a hospital.
Medics rushed to treat three people lying on the sidewalk off of the main street. One young man carried a woman in his arms. Blood could be seen dripping from her feet.
The street was covered with broken-glass mixed with blood.
At midnight, the street was already filled with workers trying to replace the shattered glass on a row of shops so they could reopen on Tuesday. The sounds of hammers could be heard along the street.
Twenty people were injured, said Akif Aktug, the police spokesman. Aktug said the injury toll did not include lightly injured people. The Dogan news agency put the overall injury toll at 71.
At Antalya State Hospital, one of several that received casualties, officials said the injured included four Israeli and one Russian tourists. They said one of the injured was in critical condition.
The Russian consul-general in Antalya, Sergei Alifanov, said two Russians were injured in the blast, according to Interfax news agency. At least three German tourists were also injured, local officials said.
Antalya is a popular tourist resort with Russians, Germans and Israelis.
In one of Sunday's attacks, a bomb placed on a minibus exploded in another Mediterranean resort town, Marmaris, injuring 10 British tourists and 11 Turks.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, a small militant group believed to be an offshoot of the much larger Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for that blast and an earlier attack on Sunday in Istanbul that injured six people.
"We had warned before, Turkey is not a safe country, tourists should not come to Turkey," the group said in a statement on its web site.
Kurdish militants have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and most PKK attacks have been limited to the largely Kurdish southeast. The Falcons, however, have concentrated attacks on Turkey's western cities and tourism centers. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
