The Turkish foreign ministry has advised the South African diplomatic mission there that two South Africans died in a gas pipeline explosion at Izmik on Thursday.
Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesperson for South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Department, said the mission was — in conjunction with Turkish authorities — in the process of verifying the nationalities of the two deceased, ”with a view to advising the next of kin of these unfortunate developments”.
He said the South African government extended its heartfelt condolences to the Turkish authorities and in particular to the families of those who had lost their loved ones in the tragedy.
Izmik is about an hour by road from Istanbul.
Earlier on Thursday the Associated Press reported that an explosion had ripped through a storage tank at Turkey’s largest oil refinery in the north-west of the country, killing two South African workers and injuring seven other people. – Sapa