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Suspected Pipe Bomb Injures at Least Five People in Istanbul

The explosion took place during rush hour near a metro stiation in the Bayrampasa district, a residential and industrial area on the European side of Istanbul.
Osman Orsal/Reuters

A pipe bomb blast near an Istanbul metro station has injured at least five people, according to a local official.

The explosion took place in the residential and industrial district of Bayrampasa during rush hour, and was said to have been heard from several miles away. State-owned Anadolu Agency reported that the bomb was detonated shortly after a police van passed by.

Turkey has been on high alert since more than 100 people were killed by two suicide bombers in the capital Ankara in October, three months after a similar attack in the town of Suruc near the Syrian border left 33 dead.

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Bayrampasa mayor Atilla Aydiner told A Haber television that the bomb had detonated on an overpass near the station, contradicting initial reports suggesting that the cause had been a faulty power transformer. Another broadcaster earlier reported that one person had been killed but Aydiner confirmed only five injuries.

Grainy CCTV footage circulated by local media showed a large flash of light on the overpass followed by what appeared to be burning embers showering to the ground as cars drove below.

Explosion near Istanbul metro station, one injured— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah)December 1, 2015

Fire and medical teams rushed to the scene following the blast and pictures circulated on social media showed a heavy police presence cordoning off the area.

The so-called Islamic State (IS) was blamed for the Ankara and Suruc bombings, but Turkey is also facing other internal security threats, including the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and extreme left Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C).

DHKP-C, speculated by some local media outlets to be responsible for today's blast, carried out a 2013 suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara, as well as a number of attacks in Istanbul year, including another suicide bombing at a police station and a shooting at the American consulate. The group also took prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage at central courthouse in March, before he was fatally wounded as security forces stormed the room.