The death toll from the explosion at a factory in Aliağa, in the Turkish province of Izmir, has risen to 18, whilst the investigation to establish the circumstances of the accident continues. The owner of the company has been arrested, and several accounts suggest that this is not the first incident to have occurred at the site.
The explosion at the HABAŞ steelworks and the subsequent fire on 9 November, which occurred at around 12:00 at a site on Atatürk Street in the Çakmaklı neighbourhood of the Aliağa district, required the intervention of numerous fire crews, who managed to extinguish the flames. According to initial investigations, the accident occurred when a bridge crane broke loose and fell onto an electric arc furnace whilst molten steel was being poured.
A worker who had been seriously injured subsequently died in hospital, bringing the death toll to 18. Six other workers continue to receive medical treatment in various hospitals, according to the newspaper Hürriyet.
Four prosecutors and two civil inspectors have been assigned to the ongoing judicial investigation into the incident. So far, 11 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the explosion, including the chairman of the company’s board of directors, the factory manager, the company representative, the head of quality and planning, the administrative manager, the director of the company’s Aliağa branch, the head of the steelworks, the mechanical maintenance manager, the head of steel production, the engineer responsible for periodic inspections, the department engineer and the mechanical maintenance engineer for the cranes.
The search for a missing worker continues
Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are continuing non-stop for a worker who remains missing, identified as Barış Güney. So far, no DNA sample matching his has been found, leading investigators to believe he may be buried under the rubble, so emergency teams are continuing their operations to try to locate him.
Among the fatalities identified so far is Abdülkadir Kınacı, an employee who, it has now emerged, had started working at the factory where the explosion occurred just four days before the accident.
A funeral was also held in the province of Manisa for Özcan Efe, another of the workers who died, who was married and had three children. A childhood friend recalled during the funeral that, a week before his death, he had revealed that “the work is too hard, I can’t do it, I’m going to quit”.
Victims’ families denounce previous accidents and threats
For his part, Şeval Özçelik, the younger brother of Kadir Kaan Özçelik – a 25-year-old fatality who had been working as a mechanical engineer at the factory for three months – made serious accusations against the company during his brother’s funeral.
“This was the second explosion. In the first one, one person died, but the incident was not pursued further. My brother had already burnt his hands at this workplace before; however, those around him intimidated him by saying: ‘If you say it was a workplace accident, they’ll sack you and harass you’. He went to Menemen Public Hospital for a check-up, but even so he was unable to file a complaint”, he lamented.
“A week later, he returned to work at the factory. They told him he would be harassed and receive threats. They tried to take my brother’s life. I’m not going to let this go. They won’t sleep soundly… I’ll do everything in my power,” said the relative of the deceased worker.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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