ISTANBUL, Nov. 20 -- Two powerful explosions, closely synchronized, ripped through Istanbul Thursday, killing at least 26 and injuring more than 450, according to preliminary reports from health authorities. The targets included the British consulate and a British bank.
Among the dead was Britain's consul-general, Roger Short, according to Britain's foreign office. He was one of 14 killed at the consulate, BBC News reported.
Neighborhoods near the bank and consulate -- separated by about five miles -- were devastated, with whole blocks reduced to rubble and ashes.
Britain is the chief U.S. ally in the war in Iraq. The blasts came as President Bush was preparing to meet in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. At a news conference called initially to summarize their talks, the two men stood side-by-side in anger.
"The nature of the terrorist enemy is evident once again," Bush said. "They hope to intimidate. They hope to demoralize. . . . They're not going to succeed."
Blair called the Istanbul terrorists "callous, brutal, murderers of the innocent. . . . There should be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace."
Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said vans packed with explosives caused the two blasts. In televised remarks, Aksu said, "These were probably suicide attacks." He added that they closely resembled twin suicide bomb attacks on two synagogues on Saturday in Istanbul.
The HSBC Bank, a British institution and one of the world's largest banks, appeared to take the heaviest blow. Witnesses said the blast appeared to originate in a vehicle, possibly a car stopped at a light near the bank.
The front of the high rise bank was shredded. Windows were shattered in buildings and shops for blocks nearby. Cars, trucks and vans by the dozen caught fire and remained smoking in the streets for a hour after the blast, which occurred at about 10:50 a.m. local time (3:50 a.m. EST).
Pedestrians moved through the streets in a daze, their hands and faces covered with blood. Body parts were strewn on the streets and sidewalks. Smoke billowed up from a nearby subway station and there were fears that people were trapped down below.
The British consulate is located in the Taksim district -- the heart of Istanbul's old commercial center and tourist district. Its narrow streets are crowded with souvenir markets. But its also been the scene in recent years of numerous smaller terrorist attacks, specifically by Kurdish rebel terrorist organizations.
The U.S. consulate moved away from the district because of security concerns.
Witnesses said a green vehicle crashed into a thick wall in front of the heavily guarded British consulate, apparently setting of the explosives.
Authorities said the blast, like the Saturday attacks on synagogues here that killed 23 and injured 300, occurred almost simultaneously.
At the Taksin Ilk Yod Hospital, which was accepting the most casualties, there were 12 dead including two police officers. The wounded wandered hospital hallways, seeking treatment. Near them, sobbing, crying friends and relatives ran their fingers down lists of injured.
Turkey, a secular Muslim nation, has stronger ties with the United States and Israel than any other Muslim nation. Many Turkish political analysts said those relations made Turkey a particularly vulnerable target for extremist Islamic organizations.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested six people in connection with the synagogue bombings. A Turkish court charged five with "attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure," which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. A sixth person was charged with "helping illegal organizations," punishable by five years in prison, Anatolia said.
No trial date has been set.
Two suicide attackers, both Turks, blew up pickup trucks outside the synagogues on Saturday, killing 23 people and the two bombers. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the two had visited Afghanistan in the past and that investigators were looking for any al Qaeda links.
On Sunday, the al Qaeda terror network claimed responsibility for the bombings in messages to two Arabic-language newspapers, but it was not possible to authenticate those claims. An outlawed Turkish radical group called the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, also claimed responsibility, but Turkish authorities said the attack was too sophisticated to be carried out by that group.
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