In the first official statement on the incident, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said that the explosion took place at 16:20 in Istiklal street
A day after a deadly explosion in Istanbul that killed six, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency revealed on twitter that the prime suspect has been arrested by the police.
"Person who left bomb that caused explosion Sunday on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue arrested by police, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu," the agency tweeted.
A bomb exploded on a popular pedestrian street in Istanbul on Sunday, causing six deaths, leaving dozens severely wounded and sending people fleeing as flames rose.
Footage posted online showed ambulances, fire trucks and police at the scene on on Istiklal Avenue, a typically crowded thoroughfare popular with tourists and locals and lined with shops and restaurants. In one video, a loud bang could be heard and flames could be seen, as pedestrians turned and ran away. Social media users said shops were shuttered and the avenue closed down.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blast a "comb that smells like terrorism" and a “treacherous attack” and affirmed that the perpetrators would be punished. In addition to the six dead, 81 were wounded, according to media reports.
Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by the Islamic State group and outlawed Kurdish groups.
Five prosecutors were assigned to investigate the blast, Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey's media watchdog imposed temporary restrictions on reporting on the explosion — a move that bans the use of close-up videos and photos of the blast and its aftermath. The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has imposed similar bans in the past, following attacks and accidents.