Overview
- An explosion around 12:00 pm local time brought down two adjacent buildings on Ebe Street in the Ayvansaray neighborhood, officials said.
- AFAD, firefighters and medical teams launched a major search-and-rescue operation as police secured the area and volunteers assisted.
- Authorities said five people were believed trapped, with three or four rescued and taken to hospitals as operations continued.
- Turkish outlet Yirmidort TV later reported that all five had been recovered from the rubble, with the extent of injuries still unclear.
- The Istanbul Governorship pointed to a likely natural gas blast as the cause, and city research counts 39,786 housing units in Fatih as vulnerable.