Six people have died and at least four others have been hospitalized after a massive fire swept through a perfume factory in Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli
According to the BBC and the Associated Press, the blaze began around 9 a.m. local time on Saturday, Nov. 8, at a factory in the town of Dilovasi. Local outlets reported hearing multiple explosions shortly before the fire broke out. Emergency crews arrived quickly, managing to bring the blaze under control within an hour.
Provincial governor Ilhami Aktas told CNN Turk that four individuals were taken to the hospital, one of whom remains in critical condition in a burn unit.
In a statement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan extended his “deepest condolences to the families” of the victims and confirmed that the country’s labor ministry has opened an investigation into the incident, according to the BBC.
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Images from local media showed firefighters battling intense flames, while photos taken after the blaze revealed the factory’s outer walls completely destroyed, leaving the building’s interior exposed.
The factory, located in Dilovasi’s Mimar Sinan neighborhood about 43 miles east of Istanbul, sits within an industrial region known for its dense concentration of depots and manufacturing sites.
A witness who spoke to Sabah described seeing an explosion followed by chaos. “There was an explosion,” the witness said. “I got up, looked down; the man was burning… I extinguished the fire, then I heard shouting. When I looked towards the sound, children and women were screaming inside the factory.”
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced that a judicial investigation is underway and confirmed that three individuals have been detained in connection with the incident, the BBC reported.
