A tanker exploded Monday on the coast of Turkey鈥檚 Izmir province, killing one person and injuring 16 others.
The vessel belonged to Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR and was anchored in a harbor in Aliaga District belonging to its Turkish petrochemical subsidiary Petkim, Aliaga Governor Erhan Gunay told reporters, adding 15 Italians, one Romanian and one Petkim worker were hospitalized.
Italian Roberto Montegurdia died in the incident.
鈥淎t Petkim Pier 5 around 23:20 (2020 GMT), a fire occurred for an unspecified reason during the connection to the Italian flagged Synzania for the filling of liquid hydrocarbons,鈥� Petkim said in a press statement.
鈥淎s a result of the immediate intervention of our teams, the fire was extinguished and cooling work on the ship is continuing,鈥� it added.
Reporting by Tezcan Ekizler and Safak Yel
Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr