Five workers have been killed by a huge blast at a rocket and snares plant in Turkey, officers say.
It happed beforehand on Saturday morning at the state- possessed MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory, 40 km( 25 long hauls) east of the capital Ankara.
Several others were injured by the blast, which state television said fractured windows in near homes and shops.
officers said the explosion was caused by an incident in the plant’s dynamite department.
Regional governor Vahap Sahin said that no other workers or staff remained trapped in the debris, and state media reported that wounded workers had been transferred to original hospitals. Several are said to be in a critical condition.
Mr Sahin told journalists that the explosion was the” result of a chemical trial, according to specialized staff”, and that it happed at 0845 original time( 0545 GMT).
In a statement, Deputy Defence Minister Alpaslan Kavaklioglu said officers had reviewed footage from inside the structure in the moments before the blast and that there was” nothing out of the ordinary until the moment of the explosion”.
” Our workers were carrying out their normal conditioning, and the explosion happed suddenly,” he added.
Images showed ambulances at the plant and firefighters are reportedly fighting a series of small blazes. Meanwhile, a number of family members gathered awaiting news on their loved bones .
The ministry of defence said in a statement that a” judicial and executive disquisition has been initiated regarding the incident”, while indigenous prosecutors said they were looking into what happed.
Turkey’s latelyre-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was briefed on the incident by Defence Minister Yasar Guler and transferred his condolences to the families of the victims, a statement from his dispatches office said.
