Turkish steel plant explosion claims 17 lives, injures 13

Published on 9 November 2026 – 21:14 GMT+1

The blast occurred at midday local time when a crane lifting a replacement boiler collapsed into a furnace used in the liquid steel casting process.

The fire at the HABAS plant in Aliaga, Izmir province, claimed at least 17 lives and injured 13 people, two of them critically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address after a scheduled cabinet meeting.

“The circumstances surrounding this tragic incident, which has deeply saddened our nation, including how and why it happened, whether there was any negligence and who bears responsibility, will be established,” Erdogan said on television.

Eyewitnesses described the explosion as feeling “like an earthquake”.

Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay posted on X that rescue teams were continuing to remove the collapsed platform and that the affected individuals were factory workers.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed her condolences

HABAS, a privately owned group and one of Turkey’s top steel producers, operates the plant established in 1987 with an annual capacity of 4.5 million tons of steel, according to its website.

Workers’ groups have reported a history of safety concerns at the facility.

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