Dutch people flee shop after Istanbul bombing: ‘They wanted to leave as soon as possible’ | Abroad

The bomb exploded on the famous shopping street Istiklal Street near Taksim Square. That square is located in the European part of the Turkish city of millions. Dutchman Arnoud van Doorn, a former city councilor in The Hague, was on his way to an appointment in the area when the explosion occurred. “I’m totally shook up,” he says into the phone. “Something exploded 30, maybe 50 meters away from me. It was unreal, everyone started screaming and running.”

As he tells his story, ambulances and helicopters are heard in the background. An ambulance employee wants him to go to the hospital, but Van Doorn refuses, he says. “I have minor injuries. It could have been much worse. Thirty seconds later and I was gone. Today I had the greatest luck in the world.”

Ricardo Hinderiks (24) from Deventer was also shocked when he heard the huge bang with his mother. He couldn’t see the explosion itself, but soon after he saw many people running towards him. “Everyone was running. He was very strange. Our first reaction then was: get out of here. We escaped to a shop, but soon had to leave as they were closing.”

Hinderiks was shopping downtown with his mom for a day. At 11 they were already in Taksim Square. They wanted to eat something downtown, but that didn’t happen when the bomb went off around half past four. After the attack, Hinderiks was quickly able to get a taxi which took them to the hotel. ,,They were all full, but we were lucky that two people got out ahead of us. I’m glad we have nothing. An hour before the attack, we were also at the place where the bomb went off.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “the perpetrators of this despicable attack will be exposed,” he said shortly before leaving for the G20 summit in Indonesia. A bomb may have been the cause of the explosion, Erdogan confirmed this afternoon. It is not yet known who is behind the attack. According to the authorities it is probably a suicide attempt by a woman.

Watch Erdogan’s speech here:

Rescuers cordoned off the area. Photos and videos circulating on social media show a huge chaos.

State channel TRT reported that people are advised to avoid the area. Shortly thereafter, the Turkish media regulator announced a temporary ban on further news reporting to avoid panic among the city’s residents.

The Foreign Ministry said it currently had no indication that a Dutchman was a victim of the blast. I am in contact with the local authorities about this.

Turkey was hit by a series of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group and Kurdish exile groups between 2015 and 2017. Istanbul has also been the target of attacks on several occasions.

Many shopkeepers in the Beyoglu neighborhood where the street is located closed their shops after the attack. Dutchman Wout Weghorst’s Besiktas football club has canceled Sunday night’s match.