A powerful explosion seriously injured three people in the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday, a local official said.
“There are no dead but three citizens were seriously injured,” Bulent Tanik, the mayor of the capital’s central Cankaya district, said in televised remarks from the scene of the blast.
The explosion blew out windows of shops and offices in the surrounding area, damaged six cars and sparked a fire which was later put out by firefighters at the scene, NTV said, adding that the cause of the explosion was not yet known.
The explosion happened in front of the Cankaya local administrator’s office close to Ankara’s downtown Kizilay square, the Anatolia news agency said.
Police feared a second explosion and sealed off the area, it said.
Officials would not be drawn on the cause of the blast.
“I hope this is not a terrorist activity,” Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay was quoted as telling Anatolia.