Istanbul fireworks factory blast kills 20

At least 20 people are dead and 117 injured after an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in Istanbul.

There were more than 130 workshops and offices in the building complex where the blast occurred in the industrial district of Davutpasa.

Several of those killed were bystanders in the street watching the blaze.

Governor Muammer Guler said: "There was a furnace near where the (fireworks) were stored. There is the issue of that furnace exploding.

"One of the furnaces could have also exploded on a lower floor (of the building) where there was a sock and paint factory."

Mr Guler said the blast started with a fire on the building's fourth floor.

There were fears immediately after the blast that a bomb might have been to blame, with various radical groups - ranging from Kurdish separatists to far-left militants - operating in Turkey.

Six people were killed and dozens injured in a blast in the southeast Turkish city of Diyarbakir earlier this month that authorities blamed on separatist militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

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