One policeman killed, four injured in Turkish resort bomb blast. (Hat tip: Solomon X.)

ANKARA (AFP) - One police officer was killed and four others were injured when a parcel bomb exploded in the hands of a bomb disposal expert in a seaside resort town in western Turkey, a local official said.

The blast Saturday occurred as a chief superintendent mistook the parcel, left in a public toilet in Kusadasi town in Aydin province, to be harmless and was carrying it back to his vehicle without wearing any protective gear, the province’s governor Mustafa Malay said.

The 50-year-old officer, who suffered severe abdominal injuries in the explosion, later died in hospital, Malay told reporters in Kusadasi, the Anatolia news agency said. The governor had earlier said that the blast had occurred when police were carrying out a controlled explosion on the parcel.

The injured officers were being treated in nearby hospitals, but there was no word on their conditions. No civilians were injured in the explosion.

Malay said there was as yet no information on who had left the package but added that police were conducting a thorough investigation to catch the perpetrators.

Underground left-wing organisations have in the past carried out similar bomb attacks in major Turkish cities.

Yes, those pesky underground left-wing organizations.