Seven individuals have been arrested as part of an investigation into how two explosions rocked Ankara at two separate plants in February.
Seventeen people were killed following two blasts on 3 February. The first blast at a construction machinery factory occurred at 11:00 in one of the city’s industrial zone, the force of which was great enough to cause two floors to collapse and killed seven people and injuring 34 others.
The second blast at 19:30 at a paint plant in a different part of the city took the lives of ten workers and injured 13 others.
Following the explosions, the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office set-up a team of investigators which included mechanical and chemical engineers, to examine the two incidents and evidence.
According to Turkey’s Today’s Zaman, the team discovered parts of oxygen tanks made in 1981 in the rubble. The tanks which were only supposed to be used for five years are now being investigated to see whether they caused the blasts.
Today’s Zaman reported that the owner of the Ersoy Gas Industry and Commerce Limited Company, which supplied oxygen tanks to both factories and a 100 others around Ankara, has now been arrested alongside six others in connection with the incidents.
The man Kasim Ersoy said in his deposition that his company “did not intend to sell those oxygen tanks”.
“We pumped CNG into the oxygen tanks for a durability test. We did not intend to sell those oxygen tanks,” he said.
Turkish police found 96 oxygen tanks filled with CNG at the company’s Ankara facility.
Today’s Zaman also alleged that the police discovered that security camera footage had been deleted at Ersoy Gas’ headquarters.
