At least three people were killed and 14 injured, three of them seriously, in an explosion and fire at an iron and steel plant in the Aliağa district of İzmir province on Monday, the İzmir Governorship said. According to Anadolu Agency (AA) and NTV, the governorship added that 10 people were trapped under debris and that work to reach them was continuing without a break.
The plant belongs to HABAŞ, NTV, BirGün and Cumhuriyet reported. AA and NTV said it lies on the Yeni Foça road in the Aliağa district.
Update, 9 November, 21:05: A court has imposed a publication ban on the investigation. The Aliağa Criminal Judgeship of Peace issued the ban on Monday evening at the request of the chief public prosecutor’s office, according to Anadolu Agency (AA), 12punto and Yeni Akit. Under the order, news reports, interviews, criticism and commentary about the investigation file may not be published until the investigation is completed. The ruling was based on Article 3(2) of the Press Law, the same outlets reported. The latest official toll remains 16 dead and 13 injured, as given by President Erdoğan. (Sources: 12punto, Son Mühür / AA, İşçi Haber / Yeni Akit.)
Update, 9 November, 20:00: The death toll has risen to 16, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. Speaking after Monday’s cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said 16 people had died and 13 were injured, two of them seriously, according to Yeni Şafak, Ege Telgraf and Son Mühür. The governor’s earlier figure was 10 dead and 15 injured. Erdoğan said judicial and administrative investigations had been opened and that those responsible through negligence would be identified, and that the interior and energy ministers had gone to the site. The five people detained earlier have not been named, and no court decision on them had been reported at the time of writing. See also our report on Erdoğan’s post-cabinet address. (Sources: Yeni Şafak, Ege Telgraf, Son Mühür.)
Update, 9 November, 19:10: Five people have been detained in the investigation into the explosion, which is being run by the Menemen Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the ANKA news agency (as reported by Diken) and İHA (as carried by Ege Telgraf) reported on Monday evening. The detainees have not been named and their positions have not been disclosed. İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban said an overhead crane fell during maintenance work and that the falling material struck a natural gas line as well as the furnace, causing the blast, according to ANKA and İHA. Elban also said no production was under way in the area at the time. The official toll was unchanged at the time of writing: 10 dead and 15 injured. (Sources: Diken, Ege Telgraf, ANKA.)
Update, 9 November, 17:05: The death toll has risen to 10, İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban said. According to Anadolu Agency (AA) and the local outlet Medyaege, Elban said 15 people were injured and being treated in hospital. Medyaege and Sabah reported that four people were still under the debris, and Elban said the search would continue until the last worker was found. The fire that followed the blast has been put out, AA and Gazetem İzmir reported. HABAŞ said the accident happened during planned maintenance on one of its electric arc furnaces, AA and Karar reported; the company said it was working with the authorities to establish the cause. Karar and Evrensel also reported earlier incidents at the plant: on 5 November a subcontracted worker was killed and another injured when a tyre on a work machine burst, and in September 2025 an explosion at a furnace there injured seven workers. (Sources: AA, Medyaege, Karar.)
Update, 9 November, 15:55: Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the explosion. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on social media that the Menemen Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had urgently launched an investigation and assigned four prosecutors to the case, NTV and the local outlet Ege’ye Bakış reported. This criminal inquiry is separate from the labour inspection by the Social Security Institution (SGK) announced earlier. (Sources: NTV, Ege’ye Bakış.)
Update, 9 November, 15:00: The death toll has risen to six, the İzmir Governorship said. According to Anadolu Agency (AA) and Ege’ye Bakış, the governorship said one of the seriously injured died in hospital and two more people were recovered dead from the debris. TRT Haber and NTV reported that the governorship now puts the number of injured at 13 and says eight people are still trapped under the debris, down from the 10 given earlier; search and rescue work is continuing. Labour and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan said the Social Security Institution (SGK) has assigned a chief inspector to examine all aspects of the incident, AA, TRT Haber and Ege Telgraf reported. (Sources: AA, TRT Haber, NTV.)
Figures still changing
The official figures moved during the day. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu earlier gave a toll of one dead and 15 injured, three of them seriously, according to NTV, BirGün and Cumhuriyet. The governorship’s later statement put the death toll at three.
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said on social media that search and rescue, firefighting and response teams were working without pause, that the injured had been taken to hospitals and that their condition was being closely monitored, TRT Haber, AA and NTV reported. He gave no casualty figures.
Fire, ambulance, police and search and rescue teams were sent to the site, and a thick column of smoke rose over the area after the blast, TRT Haber and AA reported.
Cause not yet confirmed
No cause has been confirmed. According to the governorship’s preliminary information, reported by NTV and the local outlet Ege’ye Bakış, the explosion happened during the casting of liquid steel, when an overhead crane came loose and fell into the electric arc furnace. Early reports from other outlets had placed the blast in a different part of the site, and officials have not yet given a full account.
For more on the province, see our guide to living in İzmir.
Sources
- İzmir’de demir çelik fabrikasında patlama meydana geldi (AA)
- Son dakika: İzmir’de demir çelik fabrikasında patlama. Bir can kaybı var (NTV)
- İzmir Aliağa’daki demir çelik fabrikasında patlama (TRT Haber)
- İzmir’de fabrikada patlama: 3 kişi hayatını kaybetti, 3’ü ağır 15 yaralı (BirGün)
- Son dakika… İzmir Aliağa’da HABAŞ’a ait karbondioksit dolum tesisinde patlama: Ölü ve yaralılar var! (Cumhuriyet)
- İzmir Aliağa’da patlama: Ölü ve yaralı sayısı belli oldu! (Ege’ye Bakış)
Photo: Frank John Aleksandrowicz / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
