Three injured in explosion, fire at Istanbul warehouse

ISTANBUL, Feb 2 (AFP) - Three people were injured in an explosion and a subsequent fire on Wednesday at a fireworks warehouse in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul, a local official said.
Two of the injured were hospitalized with burns after the incident at the Kucukcesmece district in the city's European side, local mayor Aziz Yeniay was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.
Earlier reports suggested that one of them was in a critical condition.
Yeniay said that the cause of the explosion was not yet clear but Anatolia said it happened when fireworks were being loaded onto a vehicle.
Firefighters had managed to bring the blaze under control, but explosions were still being heard at the partly-destroyed three-storey warehouse, the agency added.
The warehouse belonged to the municipality but was being used by a private company, the agency said.

02/02/2005 14:53 GMT - AFP