3 killed, 12 wounded at explosion in Turkey

At least three Turkish gendarmerie forces were killed, and 12 people were wounded on Thursday at an explosion in Turkey's northwestern province of Sakarya, reported Xinhua.

The explosion was the second one in a row in less than a week.

The blast happened on a truck, which was transferring some explosive materials loaded from a firework factory, Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters on the scene.

The factory exploded last week and killed seven people.

At a televised speech, Soylu said gendarmerie forces had been asked to carry out a controlled detonation of the factory's explosives in a stone pit in the Taskisigi neighborhood.

He said two team members of the explosive disposal unit and another officer responsible for the security of the area died at the explosion, which occurred during the unloading of the truck.

A total of 11 gendarmerie forces and the driver of the truck were wounded, Soylu said, noting that the driver was in a critical condition.

The explosion followed a massive blast on July 3 at the firework factory in Sakarya that killed seven people and injured 122. The owner of the factory has been recently detained while an investigation was launched into the first blast.