Turkish refinery explosion kills two

An explosion ripped through a storage tank at Turkey’s largest oil refinery in the country's north-west today, killing two South African workers, injuring seven other people and leaving 16 needing treatment for breathing problems.

The explosion occurred at TUPRAS oil refinery, near Izmit, 60 miles east of Istanbul, while workers were dismantling an empty tank, said Deputy Governor Celalettin Ozdal of Izmit.

Ozdal said workers at the facility were evacuated because of a leakage of poisonous gas.

Sixteen workers were hospitalised later with symptoms of gas poisoning such as vomiting and breathing problems but none of them were reported to be in critical condition, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported.