2023-12-24 08:36:01
PALU, Indonesia (AP) — At least 13 workers were killed and dozens injured Sunday in a smelting furnace explosion at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, police and a representative said. the company.
It was the latest in a series of fatal accidents at nickel plants in Indonesia, part of China’s ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.
Nickel is a key component in the production of batteries for electric vehicles.
At least five Chinese and eight Indonesian workers were killed in the sudden explosion while the furnace was being repaired, Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho said.
The detonation was so strong that it destroyed the furnace and damaged part of the building’s side walls, Nugroho said, and about 38 workers were hospitalized, some in critical condition.
Authorities were trying to determine whether the deaths were due to negligence on the part of the company, Nugroho said.
The accident occurred at the plant of PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, a subsidiary of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, in the Bahodopi neighborhood of the Morowali region.
“We sincerely apologize for this incident and are working closely with authorities to investigate what caused the accident,” said company spokesperson Deddy Kurniawan.
Rescuers put out the fire and evacuated workers in an almost four-hour operation, he added.
A preliminary investigation showed that there were explosive liquids at the bottom of the furnace that triggered a fire and an explosion in nearby oxygen bottles.
It was the third fatal accident this year at Chinese nickel plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has Indonesia’s largest nickel reserves.
Two dump truck operators were killed in April by a mass of black sludge following the collapse of a nickel waste storage facility.
In January, two workers, one of them Chinese, were killed in riots involving workers and security guards at a firm with Chinese and Indonesian participation in North Morowali.
A Chinese worker repairing a road in PT IMIP’s mining area was hit and killed by a truck last year, and an Indonesian man was burned to death in a furnace explosion at the company’s factory.
Almost 50% of PT IMIP’s shares are owned by a Chinese firm and the rest belong to two Indonesian companies. It started nickel smelting in 2013 and already operates the largest nickel industrial zone in Indonesia.
Three Chinese workers filed a complaint last month with the National Human Rights Commission in Indonesia alleging that their health was deteriorating due to exposure to dust and smoke working seven-day weekly shifts without a break at PT IMIP. They added that workers at the site did not have adequate safety equipment.
Data collected by the Mining Activism Network, an Indonesian watchdog, showed that at least 22 Chinese and Indonesian workers have died at nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi since 2019, including two Chinese nationals who committed suicide.
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