Two dead, five wounded in Istanbul blast

ISTANBUL - A blast tore through an apartment block in Istanbul on Monday, killing two men who police said were preparing explosives when they were blown apart from the waist down.

It was not clear who the men were in the explosion that wounded five people in the building, Istanbul police said in a statement.

Few details were available but Turkey has been set on edge in recent weeks due to a series of blasts in various cities, some of them caused by bombs.

"It has been determined that the explosion occurred as explosive material was being prepared," the statement, which was carried by the state-run Anatolian news agency, said.

Television footage showed the force of the explosion had torn off part of the facade of the building on the outskirts of Turkey's largest city.

Kurdish separatists, left-wing extremists and Islamist radicals have all been behind bomb attacks in Turkey in recent years. Kurdish rebels claimed responsibility for bomb attacks at two Aegean Sea tourist resorts last month, including one that killed three Turks and two foreigners.

Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah earlier told reporters Monday's blast was not due to a natural gas explosion, as was previously reported.

Police formed a security cordon around the area soon after the explosion around 11.45am (8.45pm NZT).

Ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene, a five-storey apartment block in a residential area in Zeytinburnu district on the outskirts of Istanbul.

On Sunday, an explosion ripped apart the trunk of a taxi at Istanbul airport, wounding three people. Police said this blast was caused by a gas explosion in the car, which was powered by a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank.

- REUTERS