Huge explosion in the center of Istanbul, officials say natural gas leak.

An explosion tore through a residential building near central Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Monday, injuring several people, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

Television footage showed windows blown out of several multi-storey buildings on the narrow side street. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, but some media reports said it was believed to have been caused by a natural gas leak.

Many people were injured and ambulances were rushing to the scene

Doors blew doors open on Siraselviler street leading down from Taksim Square, followed by a loud blast and clouds of acrid smoke.

 

The station quoted Istanbul’s governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, as saying the explosion is believed to have been caused either by a natural gas leak or a gas canister.

The explosion gutted the building, shattered the windows of homes and overturned a car in the street, NTV video footage showed.

Windows in several multi-storey buildings were blown out and a car tipped onto its side by the force of the blast, which could be heard from across the Bosphorus Strait dividing the city of almost 15 million people.

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