Blast in Turkish textile factory kills five, wounds 16

An explosion at a textile factory in northwestern Turkey killed five people and wounded 16 others on Wednesday, the labour minister said, in what seemed to have been caused by a boiler, according to state media.

The force of the explosion in the paint shop of the building caused the roof of the factory to collapse and left extensive damage to some nearby vehicles, footage from the scene, in the Gursu district of the northwestern Bursa province, showed.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said a boiler caused the explosion, and officials were investigating what happened.

“Initial reports from the area show that five workers have lost their lives and 16 people, including citizens who were in the factory’s vicinity during the blast, were wounded,” Labour Minister Julide Sarieroglu said.

She said the wounded were transferred to regional hospitals and that their conditions were not critical.

“There are no risks at the moment, but it was a very big explosion that damaged the area,” Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Cavusoglu said.

Sarieroglu said her ministry had started an investigation into the blast, assigning a delegation to evaluate the explosion.