Explosions in Mersin, no player is reported injured
Bomb explosions have been heard near the playing site of the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad, a Chessdom.com source reported this afternoon. A car exploded, while inspected by policemen. 9 policemen have been injured and the terrorists have been taken down. No player or participant in the Chess Olympiad has been injured.
All the teams were going to visit the mayor and governor at a special parade in the center of the city celebrating the Youth Chess Olympiad. Finally the ceremony will be held at the playing site. The mayor and the sponsors have already arrived at the playing hall.
The games will go on according to the plans and the World Youth Chess Olympiad 2008 will continue. Chessdom.com reminds that similar situation happened at the Sochi Grand Prix a few weeks ago.
Stay tuned for updates
hurriyet.com.tr
One was killed and nine policemen were injured when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a car in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin, the governor said. Dogan news agency said the person killed in the explosion was the terrorist who was claimed to be in preparations of a sucide attack. The terrorist detonated a bomb in the car when police tried to stop them, DHA added.
AP, Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — CNN-Turk television says a suicide bomber has detonated explosives inside a car when stopped by police, killing two suspected militants and wounding six policemen.
The private station says police stopped the car Tuesday on a highway on the outskirts of the southern city of Mersin. TV footage shows firefighters trying to extinguish flames at the scene.
The report says police had been following the car after a tip. Police have confirmed the explosion, saying there were casualties.
Reuters, Turkey
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated explosives in his car in the southern Turkish province of Mersin on Tuesday, killing himself and injuring at least six police officers, Turkish broadcasters reported.
Television pictures showed firemen extinguishing smoking remains of the vehicle on a motorway, some 10 km from the major port city of Mersin on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
Police in the city were not immediately available to comment on the bombing.
CNN Turk said the man detonated the bomb after police began pursuing his vehicle and tried to stop him at a police checkpoint. It said six police officers were slightly injured.
Broadcaster NTV reported the Mersin governor as saying one person was dead and that nine police officers were hurt.
The identity of the assailant was not clear. Islamist militants, Kurdish and leftist guerrillas have all carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.
At the end of last month, 17 people were killed in a double bombing in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul which officials have blamed on Kurdish guerrillas.
Those bombings were the worst such attacks in Turkey since 2003 when Islamist al Qaeda militants carried out a series of bombings in Istanbul, killing more than 60 people.
