An explosion in Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue on Sunday killed at least six and injured 57 people, according to local authorities. While five prosecutors have been assigned to probe the incident, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the blast was a “terror attack”.

“Our people should be assured that the perpetrators of the incident on Istiklal Avenue will be punished as they deserve,” Erdogan said at a press conference. 

Also read: Where is Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul?

“The relevant units of our state continue to work to uncover the perpetrators of this treacherous attack and the groups behind it,” he added. 

“It would be wrong to say this is undoubtedly a terrorist attack but the initial developments and initial intelligence from my governor is that it smells like terrorism.”

Since the attacks, no one has claimed responsibility for it and neither was any explanation for why it happened. 

Turkey imposed an embargo on the media which prevented them from broadcasting the videos that were shared from the scene. As per the latest updates, the embargo still stands, and the media in Turkey are not showing the video. 

In one of the videos accessed by the Associated Press, the blast was followed by raging flames in the busy street. The pedestrians gathered were seen running away from the spot after that. The shops were shut and the entire Istiklal street was closed down.

Also read: Explosion in Istanbul’s Istikal Avenue, several dead

Istiklal Avenue is a popular tourist destination and one of the busiest streets in Turkey. It is a 1.4-kilometer-long pedestrian street flanked by Ottoman-era buildings. The street has a blend of European and Asian cultures making it a symbol of Eurasia. Back in the 19th Century, tourists referred to it as the Paris of the East.

Turley has been the site of bomb attacks in the past. Between 2015 and 2017, the city was hit by several bomb blasts by outlawed ISIS and Kurdish militant groups.