ANKARA (AFP) - Turkish police on Wednesday fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands in the capital Ankara who were protesting a deadly mine explosion, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.

Police intervened when between 3,000 and 4,000 protesters took to Ankara's downtown Kizilay square to protest the death of more than 200 miners in one of the country's worst industrial disasters.

Protesters threw fireworks at security forces.