Five killed in Turkish explosives factory blast

June 10 (UPI) -- A blast killed five employees at an explosives factory in Ankara, Turkey, on Saturday, according to the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

The blast occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at an explosives factory run by the state-owned company Machinery and Chemical Industry Corp.

"An explosion occurred at the MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory in Elmadag district of Ankara," the defense ministry said in a statement. "As a result of the explosion, five of our workers have been martyred."

Ankara province Governor Vahap Sahin said no one was trapped under the rubble and that the explosion had been the "result of a chemical experiment, according to technical staff."

The defense ministry said a judicial and administrative investigation and has been initiated regarding the incident.

Deputy Defense Minster Alpaslan Kavaklioglu said an initial look at camera footage of the factory before the blast revealed nothing out of the ordinary, with workers carrying out their normal activities right up until the moment of the blast.

Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan sent condolences to the families of the dead and was briefed on the situation by Defense Minster Yasar Guler, who visited the site Saturday and vowed to update the public as information becomes available.