Three workers killed in steel plant accident in Aegean town

İZMİR – Anadolu Agency

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Three workers were killed in an accident in an Aliağa Iron and Steel Plant in the Aegean province of İzmir on Jan. 14.

The incident happened when one of the workers, 24-year-old Volkan Orman, fell into a lime pit in the plant’s garden due to a loss of balance. His co-workers, Akif Uçar, 50, and Engin Özder, 29, realized the accident and attempted to rescue Orman. Uçar and Özder were reportedly affected by the gas during their rescue attempts and fell into the same lime pit. 

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and the fire department arrived in the scene to rescue the workers. All three workers lost their lives despite the rescue efforts by healthcare teams. A firefighter also was affected by the gas during the operation. The bodies of the workers were sent to the İzmir’s institution of forensic medicine for autopsy. After the autopsy, the body of Özder, a technician at the plant, was scheduled to be laid to rest at a cemevi, an Alevi worship house, in İzmir’s Menemen district. Uçar, a manual laborer at the plant, was scheduled to be laid to rest at the Merkez Mosque in Menemen. An investigation has been launched into the incident.