Five people were killed on Saturday, June 10, by an explosion in an explosives factory in the province of Ankara, the Turkish capital, said the governor of the city. “According to our first observations, an explosion due to a chemical reaction occurred around 8:45 a.m. [7:45 a.m., in Paris] in the dynamite preparation department. Five employees were unfortunately killed,” Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin said in a statement to reporters outside the factory.
Located in the district of Elmadag, 40 kilometers east of the center of Ankara, the factory where the explosion occurred is a public establishment which depends on the Turkish Ministry of Defense. The dynamite workshop collapsed in the explosion.
The bodies of the victims have been pulled from the rubble and two prosecutors have been appointed to lead the investigation, the governor added. According to the private Turkish channel NTV, the Turkish Minister of Defense, Yasar Güler, could go to the site of the explosion during the day on Saturday.