Mehmet Muezzinoglu, the health minister, said a further 71 people were still being treated in hospital, with 15 in a serious condition. At least one or two of the dead were attackers, he said. The Ankara governor’s office also confirmed that the explosion was caused by a car bomb.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to defeat terrorists who have staged a series of attacks on Turkey in the past 18 months.
“These attacks, which threaten our country’s integrity and our nation’s unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination,” he said in a statement.
“Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees.”
According to local broadcaster TRT, a car exploded near a transport hub in an area that also houses many administrative buildings, including the justice and interior ministries, a court and a police station. A large number of fire engines and ambulances have rushed to the scene. There were reports of burnt-out busses and damage to several buildings. TRT said the area was crowded when the bomb went off at 6.43pm (4.43pm GMT), only blocks from the scene of a similar attack in February.
Death toll of Ankara bomb attack rises to 37: health minister
14 March 2016
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At least 37 people have died after a car bomb exploded in the Turkish capital Ankara, less than a month after a suicide car bomber killed dozens of military personnel and civilians in the city.
