Turkey: 4 remanded into custody over refinery explosion

By Volkan Gunduz and Efsun Yilmaz

IZMIR, Turkey

A Turkish court late Friday remanded into custody four suspects out of seven who were detained as a result of Wednesday's explosion at the Tupras refinery in the Aegean province of Izmir.

The explosion, which killed 4 people, was a result of gas entrapment.

Following the explosion, the Minister of Labor and Social Security Sarieroglu instructed the launch of an investigation in which three chief inspectors and one inspector were assigned to lead inquiries.

Within the scope of the investigation, Tupras operation's Chief Engineer Kursat K, Chief Engineer Mehmet Emin T, Operations Engineer Burak K, Operations Safety Specialist Esfet B., the subcontracting firm Beka Project's official Bedrettin K, Site Manager Muhammed Hulusi G and Chief Assembly worker Ali B. were arrested on Thursday.

The court in Izmir ruled that Esfet B, Bedrettin K, Muhammed Hulusi G and Ali B would be remanded into custody.

The remaining three were released under judicial control.