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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Matthew Dresch & Katie Weston

Tributes to little girl tragically murdered alongside dad in Istanbul 'terror' bombing

This is the first picture of a young girl who died alongside her dad in Istanbul's " terror " bombing.

Yusuf Meydan and his young daughter Ecrin were among the six people killed in yesterday's attack in Turkey.

One of Mr Meydan's colleages, Nevzat Özer, today tweeted a picture of Mr Meydan and his family, shared his "deep sadness" over the deaths.

At least 81 people were injured in the attack, which Turkey has blamed on the Kurdistan Workers' Party - also known as the PKK.

Police have now arrested a woman suspected of planting the bomb.

Mr Meydan, who worked at Turkey's ministry of family and social services, was on holiday with his family when he was killed.

Yusuf Meydan was on holiday with his family when he was killed (@66nevzat66/Twitter)

The department's minister, Derya Yanik, paid tribute to her colleague as she denounced the "treacherous" attack.

She tweeted: "Our hearts burned with the bitter news of the treacherous attack in Istanbul.

"We lost our colleague Yusuf Meydan and his daughter Ecrin. Our condolences to his family, relatives and colleagues."

Framed pictures of Mr Meydan and his daughter were held as their remains arrived at Adana Airport (Twitter)

The minister continued: "I curse this treacherous attack that killed a father and his daughter.

"As the state, we stand with the families of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives and with our wounded.

"No evil focus will be able to disrupt our unity and solidarity."

On Sunday evening, Vice President Fuat Oktay updated the wounded toll from 53 to 81, with two in a serious condition.

One of Mr Meydan's colleagues slammed the "treacherous" attack (docsozeren/Twitter)
A woman suspected of planting the bomb has been arrested (@ragipsoylu/Twitter)

He said: "We consider it to be a terrorist act as a result of a female attacker detonating the bomb."

A female suspect has since been arrested after police released a CCTV image of a woman fleeing the scene moments before the explosion, wearing a hijab, a leather jacket and camouflage combat trousers.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has since confirmed the suspected culprit has been arrested.

A woman was seen fleeing the scene moments before the explosion (@istanbul_EGM/Twitter)

“The person who dropped the bomb was detained by our General Directorate of Security,” he told TRT Haber.

Speaking to the Mirror a few hours after the attack, Massimo D’Angelo, 30, said he feels lucky to be alive after walking down Istiklal Avenue when a bomb detonated.

The Loughborough University PhD candidate said a perfect autumn sunny day “turned into a nightmare.”

Six people were killed in the bombing (@ragipsoylu/Twitter)

Mr D’Angelo from Ascoli in Italy, said: "I was with my colleagues and classmates, we had been to a museum and decided to go get a coffee. We were walking from Taksim Square to Galata and had to cross Istiklal.

“Suddenly we heard boom, boom and then it went silent. I think everyone took a few seconds to figure out what was going on. I thought is this a mass shooting?

“But then I could smell what I think was gunpowder. The smell was like something was burning but it was really strange, I really remember the smell.

"Then I saw hundreds if not thousands of people running and shouting.

"The rest is a blur, I don't remember anything after that was just running down towards the sea because I thought that would be safe.”

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