Symbolic imageSteel plant blast in western Turkey kills at least 16
An explosion at the Habas steel plant in Aliaga near Izmir killed at least 16 workers on Monday. President Erdogan promised to establish who is responsible.
The blast occurred around midday on Monday, 9 November, during steel casting, about 60 km north of Izmir. According to the governor's office, an overhead crane broke off and fell into an electric arc furnace, and a fire followed. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan put the toll at 16 dead and 13 injured, two of them critically, and announced judicial and administrative investigations. Le Monde reports 17 dead after one of the critically injured died, citing the health minister. Officials' counts had risen through the day from an initial three, while rescuers searched for people trapped under rubble.
Safety complaints and detentions
Le Monde reports that police detained two activists of an Aegean workers' collective who denounced safety conditions outside the Aliaga hospital. Spokesperson Oktay Türk blamed the greed of Habas management, and the Labour Party (EMEP) cited systematic disregard of basic safety measures. TASS, citing local media, reports that police detained five people in the investigation.
Other opinions
Daily Sabah and TASS, both state-affiliated, stress the official investigation; the workers' safety complaints and the activist detentions appear in Le Monde.