Two suicide bombers have struck a crowded restaurant in an Istanbul building used by freemasons, killing two people and wounding five more, the city’s governor says. Governor Muammer Guler told reporters two men entered the restaurant on the ground floor of the three-storey building at 10:10 p.m. local time after firing at the windows and shooting a security guard in the foot. "(One of the men) detonated the bomb he had on him," Guler said, killing himself and a waiter. The second attacker lost an arm in the blast and was rushed to hospital "with his intestines hanging out", Guler said.
| At least that's some comfort... |
| "Waiter, I'll have the steak tartar, please." |
About 40 people had been eating in the restaurant at the time of the attack. The explosion occurred near the entrance and the wounded were all seated nearby, Guler said. Apart from broken windows, the building did not suffer much damage. "The identity of the bombers is being investigated," he said. Two eyewitnesses spoke of hearing two explosions, but this could not be immediately confirmed. "I heard a second blast and looked out the window and saw smoke rising from the building," Ahmet Gunesli told NTV commercial television. Freemasonry has long claimed followers in Muslim but secular Turkey among businessmen, academics and politicians, especially in Istanbul, a vibrant, cosmopolitan city of more than 10 million people. |