Five wounded in Istanbul blast near police station: TV

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ISTANBUL: A suspected car bomb on Thursday exploded near a police station in Istanbul, leaving at least five people wounded, Turkish television reported.  

The explosion rocked the district of Yenibosna on the European side of Istanbul, close to the city’s main international airport, CNN-Turk television reported.

Many ambulances were dispatched to the scene, it added. Television pictures showed several cars wrecked and shards of glass scattering the ground after the blast.

Witnesses told CNN-Turk that they heard a powerful explosion as well as gunshots. Turkish police sealed off the area on suspicion of a possible second blast.

The force of the blast blew out the windows of the police station.

Five people were wounded, one of them seriously, the television reports said.

Witnesses also said one vehicle was seriously damaged, raising the prospect that it was a car bomb attack, CNN-Turk said.

Turkey has already been hit by a bloody year of militant attacks in its two biggest cities that have left dozens of people dead and put the country on a high security alert.