Turkey: Workers killed in Izmir steel plant blast

An explosion and fire at a factory in western Turkey left 10 workers dead, while rescuers searched for four more believed to be trapped under the debris.

The blast took place at the HABAS steel plant in Aliaga, in the port city of Izmir. The city's governor Suleyman Elban told reporters that 15 people were injured, two of them critically, and that further search and rescue efforts were underway.

The plant's production line was in the middle of a shift change rather than active production, according to the governor. Only some 200 workers were present instead of the expected 300.

An earlier statement from the governor's office said that the blast happened around noon (09:00 GMT) when an overhead crane toppled into a furnace during the casting of liquid steel. It also said that the authorities were investigating the incident.

Mayor Cemil Tugay wrote on X that the initial fire following the blast had been extinguished, but the exact number of dead and injured would become clear only after the debris had been cleared.

Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci, announced that those injured in the incident have been taken to hospital and their condition is being closely monitored.

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced four public prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

Eyewitness Nuri Ali Ulker described the blast as "very intense."

"The ground shook," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Another witness, Deniz Ulker, told the agency that the explosion "felt like the earth's crust was shifting beneath us. I thought it was an earthquake."

The HABAS plant was established in 1987 and can produce 4.5 million tons of steel annually, according to the company's website.

Turkey's leftist opposition party TIP lashed out at the government saying that the blast has once again laid bare how occupational health and safety are completely disregarded in the country.

The described the incident as "workplace homicide."

In an online post, TIP leader Erkan Bas said that "[t]he regime of bosses has declared war on the workers."

Union leader Basaran Aksu said that "the massacre calls for the resignation of the minister of labor."

He warned that "workers' blood" was being shed for profit.

According to the Health and Safety Labor Watch, an independent NGO in Turkey, there were 226 workplace deaths reported across the country in September this year.