Explosion at İzmir steel factory kills 16

Sixteen workers were killed in an explosion today at the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant in İzmir’s Aliağa district. At least 13 people were injured, while search and rescue efforts continue for those trapped under the debris.

The İzmir Governor’s Office said preliminary findings indicated that the explosion occurred when an overhead crane broke loose and fell into an electric arc furnace during the pouring of molten steel.

The explosion has brought renewed attention to previous fatal workplace accidents and incidents resulting in serious injuries at HABAŞ’s factory and port facilities in Aliağa.

Over the years, explosions, molten steel spills, falls from height, crane accidents and mass poisoning incidents at these facilities have killed numerous workers and injured dozens more.

Open sources provide the following accounts of fatal and non-fatal workplace incidents at HABAŞ’s Aliağa facilities:

• 1999: According to a statement made in 2018 by Ali Ekber Tali, the Aliağa representative of the Türk Metal union, four workers were killed when a ladle fell at the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant in 1999. Around 20 workers required prolonged hospital treatment.
• December 2001: According to a periodic report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), Şevket Taşa’s feet became trapped beneath a pallet during the replacement of a furnace vessel in the steelmaking section of HABAŞ’s Aliağa plant. He lost one leg.
• November 16, 2007: An artillery shell exploded during scrap sorting at the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant’s scrap storage area, killing 29-year-old İlyas Kırdı and injuring 10 people.
• August 24, 2008: Kutbettin Özkaya, 37, a worker at HABAŞ’s Aliağa iron and steel plant, was killed when a 2.5-tonne iron block slipped from a crane and crushed him during truck loading.
• May 15, 2013: Olgar Öner, 24, who worked in the steelmaking section of the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant, was killed when a crane’s lifting cable snapped and the load struck him on the head.
• August 2013: Four separate workplace accidents occurred at HABAŞ within a month. In one, Engin Solmaz was electrocuted due to an electrical fault in a grinding machine’s cable. Workers sustained serious injuries in the other three incidents.
• October 16, 2013: Two separate workplace accidents occurred at HABAŞ on the same day. Ergün Öztürk suffered burns when molten material erupted from a furnace. Records from the time also noted a second incident involving injury at the plant that day.
• July 8, 2014: More than 100 workers at the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant were taken to hospital with suspected food poisoning after lunch. Reports at the time said three workers were in serious condition.
• September 2015: A crane accident occurred in HABAŞ’s Rolling Mill 3 section. A worker identified as Durmuş was trapped under debris and sustained injuries to his head and arm.
• July 26, 2018: Five workers were injured in an explosion while broken electrodes were being removed from the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant’s 150-tonne steel furnace. One of the injured workers, 29-year-old Evren Erik, died in hospital on August 3.
• August 30, 2018: An explosion at the plant’s continuous casting machine seriously injured Veli Yılmaz, Ramazan Şen and Hüseyin Gül.
• October 18, 2018: HABAŞ worker Hasan Bostancı died after falling from a dust collection stack approximately 15 metres high, which he had climbed to clean.
• May 8, 2019: A 120-tonne ladle tipped over while being placed on a transport vehicle in HABAŞ’s Aliağa steelmaking section. Around 80 tonnes of molten steel spilled into the work area, injuring 11 workers, four of them seriously.
• August 14, 2020: Subcontracted worker Şaban Karaca was seriously injured after becoming trapped between steel blocks while they were being moved in the plant’s outdoor yard. He died after being taken to hospital.
• October 7, 2020: HABAŞ worker Kadir Özdemir, 36, died after falling approximately 10 metres while working in the steelmaking section. In a compensation lawsuit brought by his family, HABAŞ was found primarily at fault, with its share of responsibility assessed at 70 percent.
• November 6, 2020: Raif Çatan, who worked for a subcontractor at HABAŞ Port, died after falling into the sea during nighttime ship-loading operations.
• January 11, 2024: Kemal Özdemir, 50, who worked as a cleaner at HABAŞ Port, was killed when a metal coil fell onto him during ship-loading operations.
• May 7, 2024: An explosion in the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Plant’s steel furnace injured four workers, one of them seriously.
• September 28, 2025: An explosion in a furnace in HABAŞ’s Aliağa steelmaking section injured seven workers, one of them seriously.
• September 30, 2025: Citing workers, Evrensel reported that two interns had died at HABAŞ that year. The report said the incident had occurred two months earlier but did not provide their names, the exact dates of their deaths or the circumstances in which they died.
• October 21, 2026: Hakan Doğan, 55, who worked for subcontractor Akyaka, died after falling approximately eight metres from a ladder at the HABAŞ facility.
• November 5, 2026: Eyüp Eğinli, who worked at the HABAŞ plant for subcontractor Serdar Endüstri, was killed when a heavy machinery tyre exploded while being inflated. Another worker was injured in the explosion.