Lethal Blast Rattles Police Station in Istanbul

A blast shook the 75. Yıl Police Station on Cebeci Avenue in Istanbul's Sultangazi district at around 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, killing the assailant and police officer Bülent Özkan, as well as injuring eight others, including four bystanders.

Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın announced that the blast took place when a man around the age of 25 detonated a bomb he was carrying.

The assailant first passed the security checkpoint, then moved toward the entry desk next to the door, threw a hand grenade and finally detonated the bomb, according to Çapkın's statement.

Police Chief Çapkın said they would reveal the assailant's identity and the organization behind him later on, but the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) claimed responsibility for the attack, while reports indicate that the assailant was İbrahim Çuhadar from the central province of Çorum.

Çapkın also paid a visit to the Özel Gazi Hospital where wounded officers Hüseyin Eke and Hüseyin Tortumlu went under treatment.

Officials also took a bystander who was injured in the incident to the Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital. He was later transferred to the Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) with an ambulance and finally brought to the Kartal Lütfi Kırdar Training and Research Hospital by means of an ambulance helicopter owned by AKOM. He is reported to have suffered serious burns and still remains in critical condition. (AS)