Three Turkish security personnel were killed on Thursday when a truck exploded in the northwest of the country as it carried explosives collected from a fireworks factory that blew up last week, the Interior Ministry said.
"The blast occurred while the explosives were being transferred. We have three martyrs, twelve injuries in the blast. One of the injured is in critical condition," said Sakarya Governor Çetin Oktay Kaldırım.
Kaldırım said that after the July 3 blast in a fireworks factory in the city, Chief Public Prosecutor's Office instructed controlled detonation of the factory's explosives in a stone pit in Taşkısığı neigborhood of the Adapazarı district.
Last Friday a series of large explosions destroyed the fireworks factory in Sakarya province. Seven people died as a result of their injuries.
The latest casualties were from the gendarmerie security forces carrying explosives from the factory to a stone quarry to be detonated in a controlled explosion, the ministry said.
It said the blast occurred as the explosives were being unloaded. Two of those killed were from an explosives disposal team, it added. Six other people were wounded.
The explosion follows a huge blast July 3 at the fireworks factory in Sakarya that killed seven people and injured more than 120. The cause of the blast at the factory, which is away from residential areas, was under investigation. A factory owner and four employees were arrested.
