Three Israelis, one Iranian killed in Istanbul attack: Turkish media

Istanbul: Three Israelis and one Iranian were killed in Saturday`s suicide bombing in a busy shopping district of Istanbul, Turkish media reported.

The victims were named as Israelis Simha Siman Demri, 60, Yonathan Suher, 40, Avraham Goldman, 70, and Iranian national Ali Riza Khalman, 31, the CNN-Turk broadcaster said.

Deputy health minister Ahmet Baha Otuken had earlier confirmed that Simha Demri was among the four victims of the blast in which 36 people were injured. 

Several Israelis were among those hurt in the sixth major bombing in Turkey since July, the health ministry had said.

Israel had chartered two aircraft to repatriate the injured to their homeland, a spokesman for the emergency services said in Jerusalem.

The attack targeted Istiklal Caddesi, a bustling two-kilometre-long pedestrian street in the European side of Istanbul that is usually thronged with shoppers, tourists and buskers but was relatively quiet when the bomber struck around 11 am (0900 GMT).

No group had yet claimed responsibility for the blast but pro-government media pointed the finger at Islamic State jihadists.