Six people were arrested overnight following a massive explosion at a steel plant near the western city of Izmir that killed 17 workers, as grieving families awaited the release of their loved ones' bodies for burial Tuesday.
Witnesses said Monday's blast at the HABAŞ steel factory in Aliağa, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Izmir, was so powerful that it felt like "an earthquake." The industrial district is known for its shipbreaking yards and heavy industry.
Police have detained six people in connection with the explosion, while Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar warned that the number of arrests could rise as the investigation continues.
The deadly blast at one of Türkiye's leading steel producers also injured about a dozen people, at least one of whom was in critical condition.
Outside the forensic institute in Aliağa, grieving family members told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they had waited through the night for confirmation that their loved ones had been identified so they could be laid to rest.
"We have been here since yesterday, we're waiting for the DNA results. Since the bodies are in a condition that makes visual identification impossible, the identification process is carried out through DNA analysis," said Turgut Dilek, whose nephew, Özcan Efe, was among those killed.
Meanwhile, there was no update on the condition of a 40-year-old man who set himself on fire outside the factory Monday evening and was taken to the hospital with severe injuries, the İHA news agency reported.
The man had worked for years as a truck driver at the factory, IHA said, without mentioning earlier reports that his brother had died in the explosion.
Workers' groups have accused HABAŞ of having a poor safety record, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed Monday that investigators would get to the bottom of the incident.
Türkiye's DEM Party, which said late Monday that "not a single party must go unpunished" at the factory, sent a delegation led by its co-chair, Tülay Hatimoğulları, to visit the families and injured workers Tuesday.
Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu also called for accountability.
"Workplace deaths are not fate. The causes of the accident must be fully established, and anyone who was negligent or at fault must be held accountable," he wrote on X.
İzmir Gov. Süleyman Elban said the explosion occurred during "a boiler replacement operation."
Contacted by AFP, HABAŞ declined to respond to questions.
On Monday, police detained two representatives of a workers' collective outside Aliağa hospital as they attempted to make a statement about workplace safety, a spokesman told AFP.
Workers' groups have called a protest in Aliağa for Tuesday, saying: "STOP this hell of exploitation in which dozens of our comrades have died and hundreds were left disabled because of employers' greed!"