Turkey steel plant blast kills 16 in Aliaga, Erdogan says

Note

An explosion and fire at the HABAS iron and steel plant in Aliaga, Izmir province, killed 16 people and injured 13 on Monday, Nov 9, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting, Anadolu Agency and Deutsche Welle report. Erdogan said two of the injured were in serious condition. An AP article on the blast, Cloudflare-blocked from this host, reports the same toll and critical-injury figure.

Izmir Governor Suleyman Elban said the blast occurred at about 11:46 a.m. local time during furnace replacement work at the plant, Anadolu reports. He said roughly 200 workers were on site for the maintenance operation, compared with more than 300 during regular production.

In a preliminary account, Elban said a ceiling crane collapsed, sending material into an electric arc furnace and damaging a natural gas line, which triggered the explosion, Anadolu reports. AFP, via France 24, quotes Elban saying an overhead crane fell into the arc furnace during a boiler-replacement operation. Officials have not issued a final cause finding.

Earlier in the day Elban had reported 10 fatalities and 15 injuries and said four people were believed trapped under debris while search and rescue continued, Anadolu reports. Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay said on X that the fire had been extinguished but that the exact number of dead and injured would become clear only after debris was cleared, DW reports.

Erdogan said judicial and administrative investigations had been opened. DW reports that Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said four public prosecutors were assigned. Separately, Evrensel reports that the Aliağa Criminal Judgeship of Peace imposed a publication ban on news and commentary about the case until the investigation ends.