Developing: Crane fell into furnace before deadly HABAŞ blast, governor says

An explosion at the HABAŞ steelworks in western Turkey killed 17 people, prompting a criminal investigation into a maintenance operation in which a crane reportedly collapsed into a furnace. ^[1][3][4]

The blast struck around midday on November 9 at the iron and steel plant in Aliağa, an industrial district about 60 kilometres north of İzmir. Fire and a large cloud of smoke rose over the site. ^[1][2][3]

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially announced that 16 people had died and 13 were receiving medical treatment, including two in critical condition. Turkey's health minister later raised the death toll to 17 after a critically injured person died. The updated toll stood at 17 dead and 13 injured. ^[1][3][4]

Five people have been detained and four prosecutors assigned to investigate, according to Africanews. ^[4]

Witness Deniz Ülker told AFP the explosion felt like an "earthquake" and described thick smoke and flames. Footage from the scene showed fire beneath a large smoke cloud. ^[1][2][3]

A maintenance operation turns deadly

İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban said the explosion occurred during boiler-replacement work, when an overhead crane fell into a large electric arc furnace, the equipment used to melt steel. His account places the maintenance operation at the centre of the investigation. ^[1][3][4]

About 200 employees were in the affected area, according to Africanews. That was fewer than usual because production had been suspended for maintenance. ^[4]

A worker interviewed by AFP gave a more detailed account. He said a crane cable broke and about 120 tonnes of liquid steel fell onto the furnace. He attributed the explosion to contact between the molten steel and water beneath it, describing a hydrogen explosion. ^[1][4]

The cause of the crane's fall, the proposed sequence involving molten steel and water, any failure of safety systems and any responsibility have not been established. The detainees' roles and any allegations against them have not been made clear, nor has a final account of anyone still missing or being searched for. ^[1][3][4]

İzmir Mayor Cemil Tugay said rescue teams were still working to remove a collapsed platform. ^[2][3]

The plant's scale gives some sense of the operation investigators must examine. HABAŞ was established in 1987 and can produce 4.5 million tonnes of steel a year, according to its company website as cited by Euronews. It is a major private steelworks in an industrial district north of İzmir. ^[3]

Annual capacity does not explain an explosion. The immediate questions concern the particular job under way: how the crane was being used, what was being replaced, and how people and equipment were protected during the work.

Safety record comes under scrutiny

Erdoğan said the circumstances would be established, including whether negligence was involved and who bore responsibility. Turkey's labour minister said the Social Security Institution had assigned a chief inspector to investigate, Turkish Minute reported. The disaster therefore faces both a prosecutorial inquiry and a workplace inspection. ^[1][2][3]

AFP reported that HABAŞ declined to answer questions when contacted. ^[1][3]

Workers' groups have raised concerns about the company's safety record. AFP also cited the Evrensel newspaper as saying that at least 11 workers had died at the site over the previous decade. ^[1][3]

Two reported deaths were especially recent. Turkish Minute, citing Evrensel, said a worker died on November 5 when a heavy-vehicle tire exploded during inflation. Another worker died after a fall on October 21. ^[2]

Those accounts warrant examination of what happened after earlier deaths: what inspections took place, what changes were ordered and whether those changes were carried out. They can give investigators specific records and decisions to examine.

The pro-Kurdish DEM party called the disaster unacceptable and demanded a transparent investigation into its causes, possible negligence and oversight. A spokesman for the Aegean Workers' Collective accused HABAŞ management of putting profit first and called for those responsible to face justice. ^[1]

Turkey's wider safety toll and the families

The national context is grim. The independent workplace-safety monitor İSİG reported at least 1,736 worker deaths across Turkey in the first nine months of 2026, including 226 in September. ^[2]

İSİG compiles its figures from media accounts and information supplied by workers, families, unions, workplace doctors and safety specialists. It revises the totals as further deaths are documented, according to Turkish Minute. ^[2]

For this investigation, a useful account must connect the physical sequence to the decisions surrounding the work. Establishing that a crane fell is only the beginning. Maintenance records, crane checks and the division of responsibility during the boiler replacement are the questions that follow from the governor's account.

For families, the immediate priorities are more direct: an accurate casualty count, information about injured relatives and a clear explanation of what happened. Support for them should not depend on how long prosecutors take to establish liability.

Four prosecutors and a Social Security Institution chief inspector now have separate parts of that task. Their next substantive findings must explain why the crane fell and whether the work should have been allowed to proceed under those conditions. ^[2][4]