ISTANBUL (AFP) -- An explosion in front of a bank in western Turkey Friday evening injured at least four people, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The blast, which damaged three floors of the building and several cars, happened in Izmir, a port city on the Aegean Sea in western Turkey.

Two bank employees and two passers-by were hurt in the blast, which took place at 8:05 pm (1705GMT). Television pictures showed a badly damaged automatic cash machine and shattered windows.

Anatolia reported the governor of Izmir Oguz Kagan Koksal as saying that an inquiry was under way to determine whether there were traces of explosives at the site and adding that it was too early to talk of a bombing.

Since the start of the year a group calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons has claimed responsibility for 11 attacks in urban areas in western Turkey, including one in Izmir, which have taken nine lives and injured 140.

Far left groups have in the past acknowledged planting "percussion bombs", designed to scare rather than injure, at banks.