3 killed After Explosion in S. African Steel Company
South Africa’s ArcelorMittal lost three employees after an explosion in its Johannesburg premises, Kobus Verster, the Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal South Africa, said. ArcelorMittal said a portion of a 90-m stack at one of the operation’s coke batteries failed in the early hours of the day and fell onto the coke battery control room […]
South Africa’s ArcelorMittal lost three employees after an explosion in its Johannesburg premises, Kobus Verster, the Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal South Africa, said.
ArcelorMittal said a portion of a 90-m stack at one of the operation’s coke batteries failed in the early hours of the day and fell onto the coke battery control room in which the three employees had been working.
The company had sent condolence messages to the families of the deceases.
“The safety of our employees and contractors remains our primary concern.
“This is an absolute tragedy and we will do a full and thorough investigation to understand what happened so that we can avoid anything like this from happening again at ArcelorMittal South Africa,’’ said Verster.
He said the emergency personnel’s were working day and night to recover the remains of the three.
The company would cooperate with investigators to find out what caused the incident.
The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) called for full investigations into the cause of the three workers’ death.
“We call on the Department of Employment and Labour to embark on a detailed and thorough investigation into the cause of the incident,’’ said NUMSA Regional Secretary, Kabelo Ramokhathali.
