Five people have been killed on Saturday, in a blast at a Turkey military explosives.
According to Vasip Sahin, governor of the Ankara province, ”preliminary information shows that a chemical reaction caused an explosion around 8:45 am in the dynamite preparation department. Unfortunately, five employees were killed,”
The bodies of all the victims have been recovered from the rubble and prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accident.
The factory is in the Elmadag region, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the capital Ankara, and is part of Turkey’s defence ministry.
The incident happened early on Saturday morning at the state-owned MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory, 40km (25 miles) east of the capital Ankara.
Several others were injured by the blast, which state TV said shattered windows in nearby homes and shop
“Our workers were carrying out their normal activities, and the explosion happened suddenly,” he added.
Images showed ambulances at the factory and firefighters are reportedly fighting a series of small blazes. Meanwhile, a number of family members gathered awaiting news on their loved ones.
The ministry of defence said in a statement that a “judicial and administrative investigation has been initiated regarding the incident”, while regional prosecutors said they were looking into what happened.
Turkey’s recently re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was briefed on the incident by Defence Minister Yasar Guler and sent his condolences to the families of the victims, a statement from his communications office said.
