The death toll in the explosion that occurred on Sunday at a Chinese nickel processing plant in Indonesia has risen to 18, a local police official reported on Tuesday, while 30 injured remain hospitalized.
“The number of fatalities has increased by five, bringing the total now to 18,” said Morowali police chief Suprianto, who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name.
Most of the dead had burns covering more than 70% of their bodies, he added, noting that eight were foreigners.
Among the injured, 24 people remain hospitalized and six are receiving treatment at factory clinics, he said.
The accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lisbon) at an Indonesian Tsingshan Stainless Steel (ITSS) factory in the Morowali industrial estate, on the eastern island of Sulawesi, about 1,800 kilometers from Jakarta. .
The island is an important production center for nickel, a metal used in electric car batteries and in the manufacture of stainless steel.
According to the initial investigation, the explosion occurred during repair work on a furnace. The fire spread to the oxygen tanks, which exploded.
ITSS is a subsidiary of the world’s leading nickel producer, the Chinese group Tsingshan Holding, which also controls the Morowali park.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Monday that Beijing had asked the embassy in Jakarta to investigate the causes of the explosion, in coordination with Indonesian authorities.
In January, two workers, including a Chinese national, died at a nickel smelter in the same industrial complex during a riot over wages and job security.
In June, an accident at the same factory killed one worker and injured six.
Source: TSF
