Nine Detained During Protest at Blast-Hit Turkey Steel Plant 

At least nine workers and activists have been detained in Turkey during a protest against a mobile phone ban at a steel factory where an explosion killed 19 people earlier this week.

The protest took place on Friday at the HABAS steel plant in Aliaga, near the western port city of Izmir, after workers reporting for the morning shift were instructed to leave their phones at a security checkpoint.

Oktay Turk, spokesman for the Aegean Workers’ Collective, said the workers gathered at the factory entrance to challenge the restriction, with some chanting for better treatment and dignity.

Turk confirmed that at least nine people, including himself, were taken into custody during the demonstration.

He said the phone restriction was introduced by HABAS chairman Mehmet Rustu Basaran, who was placed under house arrest as part of the investigation into Monday’s explosion.

The workers’ collective claimed the measure was intended to stop employees from recording or sharing images of conditions inside the facility.

An AFP photographer at the scene reported heightened tension, with security personnel deployed around the factory and some access roads blocked.

Monday’s explosion occurred during work to replace a boiler. Officials and a factory employee said an overhead crane collapsed, dropping a container carrying 120 tonnes of molten steel onto an industrial furnace.

The incident killed 19 people, including a worker who had initially been listed as missing and presumed dead, Ali Ekber Tali of the Turkish Metal Workers’ Union told AFP.

Forensic examinations showed that the victims died from severe burns. Some bodies were so badly damaged that investigators had to use DNA testing to establish their identities.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised a thorough investigation, saying authorities would establish what caused the explosion and determine whether negligence or individual responsibility contributed to the disaster.

“The causes and circumstances of this tragic event, which has pained us all, as well as whose negligence and whose responsibility are involved, will be brought to light,” he said.

However, a parliamentary proposal seeking a comprehensive inquiry into the incident was rejected this week by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its right-wing ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The explosion has increased criticism from workers’ groups over what they describe as the factory’s poor record on workplace safety.

HABAS declined to comment when contacted by AFP on Monday.

Separately, 11 people were arrested in connection with the explosion investigation. A court ordered nine of them to remain in pre-trial detention, while two others, including Basaran, were placed under house arrest.