A powerful explosion sparked by an accident at an unlicenced fireworks plant killed at least 19 people, injured more than 70 and caused massive destruction Thursday at an industrial area in Istanbul, officials said.
"The death toll has reached 19," Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said as he visited the wounded in a nearby hospital.
Four of the 74 people hospitalised after the blast are in serious condition, he said.
The disaster in the industrial zone of Davutpasa, on the city’s European shore, appeared to result from a chain reaction that started with a small explosion and a fire in a clandestine fireworks plant.
The operation was on the fourth floor of a five-storey building, Guler told reporters at the scene earlier.
The accident sparked a powerful explosion, probably in the furnace of a neighbouring textile manufacturer in the building that housed several small industries, including a denim bleacher and paint and yarn manufacturers.