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 blast occurred at the HABAS facility in Aliaga, in Izmir province. Fifteen people were injured, including two who were in critical condition, Provincial Gov. Suleyman Elban said in a televised update.
Rescue teams were searching the debris for four people who were believed to be trapped beneath the wreckage, Elban said.
An earlier statement from the governor’s office had reported three fatalities, 14 injuries and 10 missing workers.
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay said the full scale of the casualties would not be clear until the rubble had been removed.
Broadcaster NTV aired footage showing flames engulfing part of the facility as a thick column of smoke rose into the sky.
“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 also 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, when an overhead crane fell into a furnace as liquid steel was being cast.
Authorities have opened an investigation into the cause of 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 extensive damage and have urged the European Union to remove the area’s shipbreaking yard from its list of approved ship-recycling facilities.
The industrial accident occurred as world leaders and environmental campaigners gathered in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, for talks focused on limiting climate change.
HABAS established the plant in 1987. According to the company’s website, the facility has an annual steel production capacity of 4.5 million tons.
