ISTANBUL — A powerful explosion followed by a fire at an iron and steel plant in western Turkey killed 10 people on Monday, while rescue crews continued searching for four workers reported missing, officials said.
The incident occurred at the HABAS facility in Aliaga, in Izmir province. Fifteen people were injured, including two who were in critical condition, Izmir Gov. Suleyman Elban said during a televised briefing on the latest casualty figures.
Rescue teams were searching the wreckage for four people believed to remain trapped beneath the debris, Elban said.
An earlier statement from the governor’s office had reported three deaths, 14 injuries and 10 missing workers.
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay cautioned that the final number of casualties would not be clear until the debris had been fully removed.
Television broadcaster NTV aired footage showing flames engulfing part of the facility, with a towering plume of smoke rising above the site.
“The ground shook. It was very intense,” witness Nuri Ali Ulker told the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Another witness, Deniz Ulker, said the blast “felt like the earth’s crust was shifting beneath us. I thought it was an earthquake,” according to Anadolu.
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Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said emergency crews were battling the fire while searching the site for victims.
“Our injured compatriots have been taken to hospitals and their health is being closely monitored,” he wrote on social media.
The governor’s office said the explosion occurred around noon local time, or 0900 GMT, after an overhead crane fell into a furnace during the casting of molten steel.
Authorities opened an investigation into the disaster. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said four public prosecutors had been appointed to oversee the case.
Aliaga is home to a major port and is widely known for shipbreaking. Environmental critics say the industry has caused substantial damage and have urged the European Union to remove the town’s shipbreaking yard from its list of approved ship-recycling facilities.
The tragedy occurred as world leaders and environmental campaigners gathered in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, for discussions aimed at limiting climate change.
HABAS was founded in 1987 and has the capacity to produce 4.5 million tons of steel each year, according to the company’s website.