Turkey confirmed on Monday that 13 civilians who had been missing since last week were killed in a blast detonated by mistake by Kurdish rebels.
The explosion, said to have been caused by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants loading some 15 tons of explosives onto a truck, shook the mainly Kurdish region of Diyarbakir on Thursday night.
Four people - all PKK fighters - were initially said to have been killed in the explosion. But the office of the local governor later confirmed that at least 12 civilians were still missing.
The mainly Kurdish region of Diyarbakir, in southeast Turkey, was rocked by a massive explosion on Thursday night said to have been caused by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants loading explosives onto a truck.
A statement from Diyarbakir prosecutors late Monday said results of DNA testing in Istanbul had confirmed 13 more people had died in the blast.
Their remains are to be returned to family members for burial later this week.
The explosion left a large crater in the ground, which locals inspected in shock.
The PKK said in a statement that the explosion was accidental, saying the truck exploded when anti-PKK locals began firing at the vehicle.
The PKK said the explosives were meant to be transferred to another site. The group offered condolences to the families of those killed, but said it was not to blame for the incident.
Turkey has been waging a large-scale offensive against the PKK in southeastern Turkey since a ceasefire collapsed last July.
