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A Week After Deadly Blast at Turkish Fireworks Plant, Soldiers in Clean-Up Operation Killed in Explosion

Less than a week after six people were killed in a blast at a fireworks factory in Turkey’s Sakarya province, three soldiers involved in a clean-up operation were reported on July 9 to have been killed in an explosion.

The Daily Sabah said the soldiers were transporting explosives from the Buyuk Coskunlar factory, outside Hendek, for controlled destruction in nearby Taskısıgi.

The blast happened when some of the explosives were being unloaded, the Interior Ministry was quoted as saying. As well as those killed, soldiers were injured, the ministry said.

Fifteen tonnes of explosives were destroyed in the days after the July 3 blast at the factory, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. The soldiers killed were transporting the last batch, he said.

Videos from the area show a large white plume of smoke rising. Credit: Ufuk Olk via Storyful