20 Hurt by Blast in Turkish Government Office

A bomb exploded Friday in the elevator of the Istanbul office of the Turkish treasury, wounding at least 20 people, police said.

Hours earlier, a bomb found in another government office in this metropolis was safely detonated by bomb squads.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said none of the treasury blast victims were in serious condition. The six-story treasury building is in the heart of Istanbul’s business area.

The bomb went off at 7:10 p.m., after the end of the business day.

“If the bomb had exploded in working hours, many more people would have been hurt,” said Mustafa Sarigul, district mayor of the Sisli neighborhood.

Earlier Friday, a bomb planted in the Istanbul offices of the Labor Ministry exploded after bomb disposal experts, alerted by ministry officials to a suspicious-looking package, moved the device to an empty field, the Anatolian news agency said.

The device exploded one minute later, shattering the windows of the building but causing no injuries.

There was no indication who was behind the incidents, but television reports said police suspected outlawed leftist groups had launched an operation throughout the city.

The Labor Ministry has been severely criticized for pushing through a pension reform last month that increases the minimum age for retirement.