4 killed, 5 injured in factory fire in Turkey’s Kocaeli

KOCAELİ

At least four workers have been killed and five others injured in a fire that broke out at a four-story textile factory and a logistics warehouse in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, which is a high-level industrial area.

The incident happened on June 6 in the Cumhuriyet neighborhood of Çayırova district. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

Thirty people were inside the facility when the fire broke out, Anadolu Agency reported. Many of the workers fled the scene, the agency reported. The five injured workers were dispatched to nearby hospitals.

The fire was brought under control in about four and a half hours through joint efforts by Kocaeli metropolitan municipality, district municipalities and Istanbul metropolitan municipality.

The firefighter units then entered the factory and recovered the bodies of the four deceased workers on the third floor, according to initial findings.

Anadolu Agency said that firefighters continued to search for more people believed to have been stuck in the building.

Çayırova Mayor Bünyamin Çiftçi held a press meeting at the scene of the incident, saying that the Kocaeli metropolitan municipality had started to intervene in the fire nine minutes after it broke out.

He also said that the cause of the fire would be determined following an investigation of the scene.