Turkey: tanker blast leaves 1 dead, 16 injured

By Tezcan Ekizler and Safak Yel

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) – A tanker exploded Monday on the coast of Turkey’s Izmir province, killing one person and injuring 16 others.

The vessel belonged to Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR and was anchored in a harbor in Aliaga District belonging to its Turkish petrochemical subsidiary Petkim, Aliaga Governor Erhan Gunay told reporters, adding 15 Italians, one Romanian and one Petkim worker were hospitalized.

Italian Roberto Montegurdia died in the incident.

“At Petkim Pier 5 around 23:20 (2020 GMT), a fire occurred for an unspecified reason during the connection to the Italian flagged Synzania for the filling of liquid hydrocarbons,” Petkim said in a press statement.

“As a result of the immediate intervention of our teams, the fire was extinguished and cooling work on the ship is continuing,” it added.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur