Ankara

The Sunday explosion in the centre of Istanbul was a terrorist attack carried out by a woman, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said, citing preliminary data. The blast occurred on the pedestrian tourist street Istiklal on Sunday afternoon.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll from the explosion rose to six. "We consider it a terrorist act, carried out by a perpetrator, who is believed to be a woman, detonating a bomb, according to preliminary information," Oktay was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

The senior official said that the number of injured people rose from 53 to 81, with two in serious condition.

Oktay pledged that Turkish authorities would promptly investigate the terrorist act and bring those responsible for it to justice. Erdogan said that the death toll from the Sunday explosion in the center of Istanbul rose to six, adding that preliminary data indicated that the blast was a terrorist attack.

The blast occurred on the pedestrian tourist street Istiklal on Sunday afternoon. According to preliminary data, the city's governor, Ali Yerlikaya, said that four people were killed and 38 were injured as a result of the blast.

"According to the information that I have received from the city's governor, the death toll is six people at the moment, and the number of injured is 53," Erdogan told a briefing. The president added that preliminary information indicated that the blast was a terrorist attack.

"It would be wrong to say with confidence that this is a terrorist attack, but preliminary data, CCTV footage and the first information provided by the governor to us indicates that it 'smells like a terrorist attack,'" Erdogan said.

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India on Sunday condoled the tragic loss of lives in the fatal explosion in Central Istanbul.

The official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi extended sympathy to those injured, wishing them a speedy recovery and conveyed India's deepest condolences to the government and people of Turkey.