ISTANBUL: Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu confirmed that 30 police officers and eight civilians were killed after Saturday night’s twin blasts outside the Besiktas football stadium in central Istanbul.
A car bomb was remotely detonated outside the stadium and 45 seconds later, a suicide bomber triggered his device at Macka Park next to the Vodafone Arena, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said at a joint press conference early Sunday morning.
Soylu said 166 were injured. Fourteen of the injured are in critical condition.
He added that 10 people had been detained in connection with Saturday night’s terror attacks.
Besiktas football club had earlier tweeted on their official account that a police chief and congress member from the club, Vefa Karakurdu, was killed along with Tunc Uncu, a 29-year-old staff member who worked at the stadium’s merchandise store.
The club said Karakurdu was a police chief assigned to the stadium and was responsible for security.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “A terrorist attack has been carried out against our security forces and our citizens. It has been understood that the explosions after the Besiktas-Bursaspor football game aimed to maximise casualties. As a result of these attacks unfortunately we have martyrs and wounded.”
The attacks happened around 10:30pm, two hours after a game ended between home side Besiktas and visitors Bursaspor.
