Explosion at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plant leaves 13 dead

According to Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho, the incident resulted in the tragic loss of at least five Chinese and eight Indonesian workers. A devastating explosion occurred at a Chinese-owned nickel smelting plant on Sulawesi island, Indonesia, leading to the deaths of 13 workers and leaving numerous others injured. The explosion took place during repairs on the smelting furnace on Sunday.
The horrible incident took place at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, a subsidiary of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, in the Bahodopi neighborhood of Morowali regency. The nickel smelting plant has been built under China’s ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.
The powerful explosion destroyed the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building. The blast resulted in fire which was extinguished during a nearly four-hour rescue operation.
Investigation is on to ascertain if the incident happened due to negligence by the company. “We sincerely apologize for this incident and we are working closely with authorities to investigate what caused the accident,” said company spokesperson Deddy Kurniawan.
Meanwhile, preliminary investigation has revealed that there were explosive liquids at the bottom of the furnace which triggered a fire and explosion in nearby oxygen cylinders.
Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province is known to have the largest nickel reserves in the country. PT IMIP is the largest nickel-based industrial area in Indonesia.
About 50% of PT IMIP’s shares are owned by a Chinese holding company, and the rest are owned by two Indonesian companies.
The latest incident is the third deadly instance this year at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants in the region. In April, two dump truck operators died after getting buried under a wall of black sludge-like material following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site.