Gas blast in Turkiye kills five, injures dozens

ISTANBUL: A gas blast at a restaurant in western Turkiye has killed five people and injured more than 50 others, interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Sunday.

The minister said on X that 57 people had been injured by the blast, caused by a gas bottle.

The blast, which happened in the town of Torbali south of the city of Izmir, was so powerful that it was heard for miles around, the official news Anadolu reported.

Images broadcast on television channels showed the facades of several buildings party destroyed by the explosion and the windows of cars blown out.