ISTANBUL, July 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A gas blast at a restaurant in western Turkey has killed five people and injured more than 50 others, interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said 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.