A blast tore through an apartment block in Istanbul on Monday, killing two men who police said were preparing explosives when they were blown apart from the waist down, Reuters reported. It was not clear who the men were in the explosion that wounded five people in the building, Istanbul police said in a statement. Earlier reports said six people had been hurt in the blast. "It has been determined that the explosion occurred as explosive material was being prepared," the statement, which was carried by the state-run Anatolian news agency, said. Television footage showed the force of the explosion had torn off part of the facade of the building on the outskirts of Turkey's largest city.
