Blast in Ankara kills at least 27, wounds at least 75
The capital of Turkey was struck by a large explosion on Sunday; the death toll is at least 27, and at least 75 people have been injured, according to the Ankara governor's office.
The blast, which media reports suggest may have been a car bomb, struck near a central square in Ankara. It hit a transportation hub with several bus stations, NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul.
"Rescue crews scrambled to account for the dead and wounded among the travelers returning from weekend trips," Peter told our Newscast unit.
No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
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Just a month ago, a bombing in Ankara killed 29 people and injured more than 60. Istanbul has also been struck by several explosions in recent months.
"Officials have blamed supporters of the Islamic state, Kurdish militants from the PKK and extreme leftist groups for various attacks inside Turkey," Peter says.
Peter also notes that Turkey's media watchdog has banned media coverage of Sunday's explosion — "but several channels continued to broadcast live from the scene," he says. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
(2016-03-14 04:00:00 UTC):
A previous version of this post incorrectly referred to Istanbul as Turkey's capital. In fact, the capital is Ankara.