Six killed in Istanbul blasts

At least six people were feared dead and 100 injured today after three explosions shook Istanbul, including blasts in front of the British consulate and outside the Turkish headquarters of the HSBC bank.

Bodies were scattered in front of the HSBC bank in the Levent district, NTV said.

Ambulances took several injured to hospitals, CNN-Turk television footage showed.

London-based HSBC is the world’s second-largest bank.

The city’s stock exchange halted trading, TV news channels reported.

One bomb explosion ripped apart the wall surrounding the garden of the British consulate in the Beyoglu district. Some reports said 10 people were killed there.

The blasts followed Saturday’s suicide attacks on two synagogues by two Turkish Islamic militants that killed 23 people.

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks but authorities were trying to authenticate that claim.

Ambulances could be seen taking injured away. The front of the HSBC building, a towering white block in the commercial district, appeared to be shattered.

“It sounds like it is pretty bad,” said a British embassy spokesman.

Chris Kitrinos, an English teacher, told CNN television: “The damage is very extensive. I’ve been told that there are people lying around and I am looking at people lying on the ground lying.

“Civilians are carrying people away from the scene…There is debris and bodies around.”

2 TURKEY Blast Lead

Officials said later there had been two explosions.

NTV said the attack on the British consulate appeared to be a suicide attack using an explosive-laden pickup truck which smashed into the consulate wall.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the attacks on the British targets appeared to be linked to the synagogue suicide bombings.

Authorities yesterday arrested six people in connection with the synagogue bombings. A Turkish court charged five with “attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure,” which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.

A sixth person was charged with ”helping illegal organisations,” punishable by five years in prison, the Anatolia news agency said.