Death Toll Reaches 86 in Ankara Bombings
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least 86 people were killed in twin explosions Saturday outside the main train station in the Turkish capital Ankara where protesters were gathering for a peace march, prosecutors said.
Graphic pictures from the scene showed several bodies covered by flags and placards, with bloodstains visible and body parts scattered in the road. One hundred and eight-six people were hurt, officials said.
"There was a demonstration," one eyewitness told local television. "I was walking next to a stage rally truck. Right here, behind two banners, an explosion went off. We lay on the ground. The second bomb went off there. There were two bombs but the one that went off here was a very strong one."
One local reporter said hospitals in the area had appealed for blood donors as they treated a number of seriously wounded patients, NBC News reported.
"I heard one big explosion first and tried to cover myself as the windows broke. Right away there was the second one," said Serdar, 37, who was working at a newspaper stand in the station. "There was shouting and crying and I stayed under the newspapers for a while. I could smell burnt flesh."
In the chaotic aftermath of the blasts, the death toll continued to climb. Health minister Mehmet Muezinoglu said 62 people died at the scene while 24 others died after being taken to the hospital.
The blasts came ahead of a planned political rally by labor unions and aid groups protesting the country's conflict with Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey.
Footage showed a line of young men and women holding hands and dancing, and then flinching as a large explosion flashed behind them, where people were gathered carrying pro-Kurdish HDP and leftist party banners.
The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear, but a senior Turkish security official told Reuters that they were the result of a suicide bombing.
The official also said a ban had been imposed in Turkey on broadcasting images which directly showed the bomb blasts.
