By Deutsche Welle
Dec 24, 2023, 09:52 AM EST
An explosion at a nickel processing plant in eastern Indonesia on Sunday (24.12.2023) left at least 12 dead. “The current number of victims is 51 people. Twelve people died in the incident. There are 39 people with minor and serious injuries,” Dedy Kurniawan, spokesperson for PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, where the plant operates, said in a statement.
The accident occurred around 05:30 (local time) at the industrial complex plant in the province of Central Sulawesi, the statement added. Among the dead are seven Indonesians and five Chinese, Kurniawan specified. A preliminary investigation revealed that the explosion occurred during repair work on a boiler when a flammable liquid caught fire and caused a deflagration that caused nearby oxygen tanks to also explode, the spokesperson added.
The firm in charge of the industrial park said it was “deeply saddened” by the disaster and that the remains of several of the identified victims were sent to their places of origin. “Their faces were burned, their clothes were all burned,” said one worker.
The plant is operated by PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI), a local unit of Chinese company Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry. The island of Central Celebes is a major production site for nickel, a mineral used in electric vehicle batteries and stainless steel.
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