9 bodies pulled out in second Turkey plant blast

Officials said there were still people trapped under the rubble at the scene of the second explosion. The Turkish capital city was shaken by two major explosions at OSTIM industrial zone on Thursday.

The first explosion, which took place at a machinery factory at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, killed 7 people and injured 34 others. After the explosion, two stories of the four-storey building collapsed and windows of nearby buildings and cars were shattered.

The second blast occurred at a bio-diesel filling station in OSTIM at around 7:45 p.m. The LPG tank of an automobile parked in front of the station also exploded after the blast, officials said.

Search & rescue teams worked at the site of the second blast till 3 a.m. on Friday. Efforts resumed in the morning.

On Thursday, numerous officials including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, Social Security and Labor Minister Omer Dincer and Industry Minister Nihat Ergun visited the sites and got information from the authorities on the latest progress.


/World Bulletin/