Separatist Kurdish rebels are believed to have planted the explosives on the road in Mardin province, the sources said.

The victim was a security guard at a gas exploration company, whose vehicle triggered the first explosion.

The man got off unscathed from the damaged vehicle but then stepped on a second landmine, dying on the way to hospital, the sources said.

Landmines and home-made bombs are frequently used by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has been fighting for self-rule in the southeast since 1984.