Twelve workers have been injured following an explosion in a tunnel at the Silvan Dam project in southeastern Turkey.

According to newswire reports, five workers suffered burns while a further seven inhaled noxious fumes during the incident yesterday morning.

The Silvan dam project is currently under construction in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır. According to initial reports, the explosion was the result of gas compression in the tunnel due to tampering, although investigations are still ongoing.

The embankment dam is part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and work began at the site in July 2011. The project will have an installed hydroelectric capacity of 160MW once complete.