At least 16 workers were killed and 13 others were injured in an explosion and fire at the Habas iron and steel plant in Aliaga, in the port city of Izmir in western Turkey, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026.1,4
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed the casualty toll on Monday evening after a Cabinet meeting and said two of the injured were in a serious condition, while search and rescue operations continued and investigations were under way.1,4
The casualty figures differed between early and later accounts and between outlets. Officials including Izmir Governor Süleyman Elban had given lower figures earlier in the day while rescue teams sought people potentially trapped under rubble. The Independent reported at least six people killed and eight injured, and said the governor's office had originally reported three deaths after two people were pulled from the rubble and another died in hospital. The New York Post headline put the toll at 10 dead with four missing.2,3,4
Accounts also differed on what sent material into the furnace. The governor's office said in an earlier statement that the blast happened around noon, or 09:00 GMT, when an overhead crane toppled into a furnace during the casting of liquid steel, and said authorities were investigating the incident. The BBC account, citing the governor, said the blast happened around midday after a crane carrying a replacement boiler collapsed, causing materials to fall into a furnace below. The Independent said initial findings were that a ceiling crane snapped and fell into an arc furnace during the liquid steel casting process.1,3,4
The company said the accident occurred during scheduled maintenance work on one of the plant's electric arc furnaces, a description that differs from the casting-process accounts given by the governor's office and carried in early findings.1,3
The governor said the plant's production line was in the middle of a shift change rather than active production at the time, with only about 200 workers present instead of the expected 300.4
Footage from the scene showed a large fire inside the facility and a towering column of smoke rising into the air, while footage shown by local television stations appeared to show large plumes of grey dust rising above the factory. Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook the ground, with one person initially believing an earthquake had struck.1,3
Elban told the media that some people were believed to be still under the rubble, and the governor's office said search and rescue efforts were under way. Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay wrote on X that the initial fire following the blast had been extinguished, but said the exact number of dead and injured would become clear only after the debris had been cleared.1,4
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci announced that those injured in the incident were taken to hospital and that their condition was being closely monitored. All those killed and injured were workers at the Habas plant, one of the country's leading steel producers, authorities said.1,4
At least five people have been arrested, according to the BBC's Turkish service, citing local media reports.1
The Habas plant is in the Izmir district of Aliaga, which is a major port and one of Turkey's main shipbreaking hubs. Electric arc furnaces of the type involved typically reach internal temperatures of up to 1,800C. Workplace accidents remain a chronic problem in Turkey, the Turkish Health and Safety Labor Watch, an independent civil society organisation, said.1,3
Search and rescue operations were continuing at the plant as the investigation proceeded.1,4
