97 killed, 246 injured by explosions in Turkey's capital Ankara

As many as 97 people have been killed, 246 injured by two explosions near Ankara's main train station early Saturday, where the Confederation of Public Sector Trades' Unions (KESK) and other labor unions were planning to hold a "Labor, peace, democracy" rally at Sıhhiye Square to call for an end to the renewed conflict between the terrorist organization PKK and the Turkish state, Daily Sabah reported.

Turkish government officials said the blast outside the main train station in the capital Ankara on Saturday was a "terrorist attack".

The initial figures first suggested that the death toll was 62, but as more people died in hospital, death toll in the deadly terror blast increased to 97, the prime minister's office announced on Sunday night.. Turkish health minister said on Saturday that, there were 186 patients in hospital, 28 of whom were in intensive care unit, and eight of whom were currently undergoing surgery.

"At the scene, 62 people were killed and 24 succumbed to death in hospital," he said. "Twenty-four people were severely injured," the health minister said.

The number of dead makes the attack the deadliest in recent Turkish history.

Two male suicide bombers are responsible for the blast, and media has been banned on broadcasting images showing the blasts, a senior Turkish security official reportedly said. Later reports on Turkish news outlets suggested two suicide bombers were responsible from the attack. One suicide bomber was a male aged 25 to 30, the prime minister's office said that the efforts to identify the suicide bombers are underway.

Source: MENA