At least six people have been killed and 12 others injured in an explosion at an iron and steel factory in western Turkey. The incident occurred on Monday (November 9) at the Habas Demir Celik factory in Aliaga, north of Izmir province.

In a statement, the provincial governor’s office said 13 people had been injured in the explosion, two of whom were in critical condition. Rescue operations were underway to recover eight people trapped beneath the debris. Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay said the exact casualty figure could not be confirmed until the debris was completely cleared.

Meanwhile, Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said emergency response teams were working to extinguish the fire and search for casualties. In a social media post, he said the injured had been taken to hospitals and their conditions were being closely monitored.

According to the governor’s office, the explosion occurred around noon when an overhead crane fell onto a furnace during the casting of liquid steel.

Deniz Ulkar, who was passing near the factory at the time of the explosion, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the blast felt like an earthquake.

“It felt as though the ground beneath our feet was moving. I thought there had been an earthquake. When I looked towards the factory across the road, I saw thick black smoke rising. There was a fire where the chimney used to be,” he said.

Aliaga is known for its major port and shipbreaking industry. Critics say the industry has caused serious environmental damage, prompting calls to remove Aliaga’s shipbreaking yards from the European Union’s list of approved ship recycling facilities.

The disaster occurred as world leaders and environmental activists gathered in Antalya, a Mediterranean coastal city in Turkey, to discuss efforts to combat climate change.

According to the company’s website, the Habas factory was established in 1987 and has an annual steel production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes.

Source: ABC and Gulf News.