istanbul
A protester uses a slingshot to throw rocks as they clash with riot police in Istanbul. Reuters

Two people died Friday from injuries sustained in violent clashes between police and protestors in Istanbul, an official said.

More than a dozen youth threw stones and firebombs at police on Thursday in a working-class neighborhood known as Okmeydani, which has seen periods of unrest before, including last year, when anti-government demonstrations challenged Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's decade-old rule.

The first victim, Uğur Kurt, was reportedly shot dead by a stray bullet when police were responding to live ammunition from protesters. Kurt, who was not a protester, was shot while attending a funeral.

News of his death sparked more clashes in the same neighborhood, injuring nine people including a man who later died in a hospital. The second victim, who died after suffering injuries when a bomb exploded, has not been identified.

The latest set of conflict began when a group of up to 15 people protested the death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died after nine months in a coma from a head wound sustained in last year’s nationwide anti-government protests.

Thursday's clashes were also fueled by the coal mining disaster last week, which killed 301 people, but so far, the protests show no signs of spreading to other parts of Istanbul or beyond.

"Everyone must help bring the situation back to normal. We need calm, we need to act in a calm manner for the security of Istanbul and of the nation," Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters.

Kurt’s funeral is planned for Friday and is expected to be the site of more protests.

"Some people are engaged in an effort to escalate these events ... I am calling on every citizen to be wary," Mutlu said.

Okmeydani is a neighborhood comprised of Alevis, a religious minority that follows a liberal version of Islam. And, since the 1990s, the community has clashed with Erdogan's socially conservative, Islamist-rooted government.