TOKYO — A woman was killed after a truck carrying airbag parts made by Takata exploded in a massive fireball on a US highway, the troubled Japanese company confirmed Tuesday.Four others were injured when the vehicle, on its way to a company factory, erupted "like a big bomb", local police said.The damage was so extensive that the dead woman had to be identified through dental records, they said."It created a big crater," said Tom Schmerber, the sheriff of Maverick County, Texas, where the August 22 accident occurred."It burned and killed a woman in a house 9m away. Her body was completely disintegrated, but they did manage to find two teeth so they could identify her."However, Tokyo-based Takata — hammered by a defect in its airbag inflators linked to at least 15 deaths and scores of injuries globally — denied the accident was related to the problem part."We don’t think the accident has anything to do with the defect," a company spokeswoman said, adding that it appeared the supply t...

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