17 Killed as Steel Plant Blast Rocks Western Turkey

An explosion tore through a steel plant in western Turkey on Monday, killing 17 workers and injuring 13 others in one of the country’s deadliest industrial accidents in recent years.

The blast struck around midday at the HABAS Demir Celik plant in Aliaga, about 60 kilometres north of the port city of Izmir, during a boiler replacement operation. According to the Izmir governor’s office, an overhead crane broke loose and fell into a large electric arc furnace used in the liquid steel casting process.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the deaths after a cabinet meeting, initially putting the toll at 16, before Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu later raised it to 17 after one of the critically injured workers died in hospital. Two of the injured remain in critical condition.

Workers at the site described the moment of the explosion. Yasin Cetiner, a 52-year-old worker, told AFP that the crane rope had snapped, sending about 120 tonnes of molten steel crashing onto the furnace. Because the furnace contains water-cooled panels, the liquid steel triggered a hydrogen explosion on contact with the water below. “If the liquid steel falls on water, and it’s 1,800 degrees, a massive explosion happens,” he said.

Another eyewitness, Deniz Ulker, said the blast felt like an earthquake, with thick smoke pouring from the factory chimney and giant flames visible across the site. Footage from the area showed a huge cloud of smoke rising into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure inside the plant.

Erdogan said the circumstances of the incident would be established, including how and why it happened, whether there was negligence and who bore responsibility. Judicial and administrative investigations have been launched, and officials said search and rescue teams were still working at the site.

HABAS is a privately owned group and one of Turkey’s largest steel producers. The Aliaga plant sits in a major port and shipbreaking hub, and the explosion has renewed attention on workplace safety at the site, which has seen previous fatal accidents.