Blast at Turkish steel plant kills at least 16 workers
A crane fell onto a furnace in Aliağa, the İzmir governor's office says. Erdogan reports 13 injured and has ordered judicial and administrative probes.
An explosion at the Habaş Demir Çelik steel plant in Aliağa, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of İzmir, killed at least 16 workers around midday Monday, local time. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the toll after a Cabinet meeting: 16 dead and 13 injured, two of them seriously.
The figure was revised more than once during the day and could still rise.
The İzmir governor's office first described an overhead crane that came loose from the ceiling and fell onto an electric arc furnace in the middle of a pour of liquid steel. A fire followed, and several workers were trapped under the debris. The company says the furnace was undergoing scheduled maintenance, and it has not answered questions about the cause.
A 52-year-old worker described a different sequence: the crane's cable gave way, about 120 tons of molten steel came down, and contact with water-cooled panels set off a hydrogen explosion. No authority has corroborated that account.
Erdogan announced judicial and administrative investigations and said those responsible for any negligence will be identified. The energy and labor ministers traveled to İzmir. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the Menemen prosecutor's office has four prosecutors and a panel of experts on the case, and the interior and labor ministers appointed inspectors.
Habaş, the plant's owner, is a private group and one of Turkey's largest steelmakers. The Labor Party says this is the third time in three weeks that workers have died there; no authority has confirmed that.
Few industrial accidents in Turkey this year have killed so many people, and the case reopens the debate over worker safety in heavy industry. What the prosecutors conclude will determine whether the company or its executives face criminal responsibility.
