Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

A sunflower field has been turned into a giant car park after being covered in tar when an asphalt boiler exploded at a construction site.

The incident happened in the village of Hasanaga, in the city of Edirne, in the Turkish province of the same name, on 6th April.

According to reports, when the boiler exploded, the wall of the pitch pool at the site collapsed, allowing 1,500 tonnes of the stuff to flood the neighbouring farmland.

The headman of the village, Mehmet Ustun, told local media: “This is a mixture of oil used in asphalt production, a material we call pitch. It was stored here.

“A 60-metre wall, where this material was stored, was completely demolished, and thousands of tonnes of asphalt material spread over an agricultural land of about 30 decares [7.4 acres].

“There was a creek bed here. The spreading pitch over the area has progressed here for nearly two kilometres [1.2 miles].

“Wheat and sunflowers are grown mainly in the region.

“Officials from the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry came and they will determine the damage.

“Company officials say that all damages and losses will be covered, and the pitch will be completely cleared from agricultural lands. We will wait and see.”

The Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change said in a statement: “The pitch leaking from the asphalt construction site in Edirne to the agricultural fields was taken under control under the supervision of our Provincial Directorate.

“Cleaning actions have been performed on the site by our Ministry, and the companies authorised to remove soil pollution have been promptly dispatched to the region.”