A huge explosion has taken the lives of an unknown amount of people in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. On Sunday, a suspected car bomb or car bombs ripped through the Kizilay neighborhood of Ankara.
https://twitter.com/favrizki/status/709074008214523904
#BREAKING
Allegedly footage from the moment of the explosion in #Kızılay #Güvenpark#Ankara #Turkey https://t.co/NShHnS5qPU via @AEJKhalil— ARnews 1936 (@ARnews1936) March 13, 2016
Ankara'da patlama, olay yerinden ilk görüntüler https://t.co/QRLWhMEOfI https://t.co/Kl9m5p552U
— CNN TÜRK (@cnnturk) March 13, 2016
Witnesses say the explosion happened near the main bus station on Ataturk boulevard, a main transportation hub which is in close proximity to many government buildings. It is believed that a car loaded with explosives slammed into a bus causing the blast. Several vehicles caught on fire. The area was being evacuated in case there was a second attack. Several witnesses claim that they heard gunfire after the explosion.
BREAKING: Explosion near a bus station in central #Ankara, the capital of #Turkey. Reports of many dead and wounded. pic.twitter.com/LvoIB0s7AS
— H. Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) March 13, 2016
Only days earlier, the U.S. State Department warned American citizens of a potential terrorist plot in Ankara.
This comes on the heels of last month’s bomb attack on a military convoy in Ankara that killed 28 people. That attack was claimed by a Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK).
Ankara is no stranger to terrorism, in October they were hit with an explosion that killed 100 and injured 300 others.