UPDATE on the Sulawesi Tragedy -Death toll raised from 13 to 18
Sulawesi Tsingshan Ni Plant shutdown by Indo Police indefinitely
Other inspections & shutdowns expected, tip of the iceberg as Ive been saying for years here -
Its the
"latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia.. third deadly incident this year"https://www.v o a n e w s . c o m / a/death-toll-rises-to-18-in-furnace-explosion-at-chinese-owned-nickel-plant-in-indonesia/7412670.html
"The death toll following the explosion of a smelting furnace at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island rose to 18 on Tuesday, as
police ordered the plant to stop operations until an investigation into the incident is completed.
The accident, which occurred on Sunday, was the
latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China’s ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.
Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles.
Four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died instantly on Sunday when the furnace exploded while they were repairing it, said Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho. Three more victims died a day later while being treated at a local hospital.
Two more workers died on Tuesday at the hospital, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18, including eight workers from China, said Deddy Kurniawan, a spokesperson for PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, the parent company of PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, where the accident occurred.
The plant is in the Bahodopi neighborhood of Morowali regency.
“We have ordered PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel to stop its operation until our entire investigation is completed,” said Nugroho, the police chief, adding that authorities had set up a team to determine whether negligence by the company led to the deaths.
The
blast was so powerful it demolished the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building, Nugroho said. PT IMIP said in a statement on Sunday that the furnace was under maintenance and not operating at the time of the accident. However, “residual slag in the furnace” came in contact “with flammable items,” causing the furnace walls to collapse and the remaining steel slag to flow out.
Rescuers extinguished the fire and evacuated workers after a nearly four-hour operation, Kurniawan said. About 44 workers are still being treated at a hospital and the company’s clinic on Tuesday with serious to minor injuries, including 11 Chinese nationals, Kurniawan said.
It was the
third deadly incident this year at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has the largest nickel reserves in Indonesia.
Two dump truck operators were killed when they were engulfed by a wall of black sludge-like material following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site in April.
In January, two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed in riots that involved workers of the two nations at an Indonesia-China joint venture in neighboring North Morowali regency.
Last year, a loader truck ran over and killed a Chinese worker while he was repairing a road in PT IMIP’s mining area, and an Indonesian man burned to death when a furnace in the company’s factory exploded.
Nearly 50% of PT IMIP’s shares are owned by a Chinese holding company, and the rest are owned by two Indonesian companies. It began smelter operations in 2013 and is now the largest nickel-based industrial area in Indonesia."
As a result of this, it is clear that the Indo authorities are going to clamp down harder and shutdown major operations and carry out more inspections.
This spells the beginning of the end of the Indo Ni saviour fake narrative imho.
The media, western investors and Indo locals will now change their narratives imho.
Expect NP to rocket as Indo Ni gets clamped on supply and production and higher costs with sovereign and safety risks escalating.
(20min delay)