South African ArcelorMittal workers die in plant explosion

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) on Thursday confirmed the death of three South Africa ArcelorMittal employees, who went missing after Wednesday’s explosion at the Vanderbijlpark plant, Africa’s biggest steel producer.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who have passed away. As NUMSA, we are calling on the Department of Employment and Labour to embark on a detailed and thorough investigation into the cause of this incident.” Said Numsa’s Regional Secretary, Kabelo Ramokhathali.

He added that “It was only those three that are deceased, the other employees were not injured because they were away from the area. We are going to conduct an intensive, thorough investigation because we suspect a lot of things, but for now we can’t speculate…”

On Wednesday, a portion of a stack at one of the operation’s coke batteries – fell onto a control room where the three employees were working.

Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal says a full investigation will be instituted to understand the cause of the incident.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke