ISTANBUL, November 9. /TASS/. The death count from an explosion at a metallurgical plant in the Turkish province of Izmir has increased to 17 from 16, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said.

"The number of fatalities increased to 17. One of our people who sustained severe injuries died," the minister wrote on X.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously said that 13 people were injured, two of them seriously.

The explosion shook the plant in the town of Aliaga after a spill of liquid metal due to the failure of a bridge crane and its fall into an electric arc furnace in one of the workshops. The building collapsed almost completely with the clouds of gray·black smoke above the facility visible from several kilometers away.