ANKARA: An official says an explosion at a military ammunitions disposal facility has killed four workers.

Ferhat Ozen, the district governor, says the early Monday blast caused a large fire in the military-owned four-story building in the town of Yahsihan, in the central Turkish province of Kirikkale.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion.

In 1997, an explosion at a state-run weapons plant in Kirikkale led to a deadly fire that raged for days. Several thousand people were evacuated for fear the fire would spread to residential areas.