At least 12 people were killed and 39 injured on Sunday in Indonesia after an explosion at a nickel processing plant in an eastern province, reported a spokesperson for the industrial park where the incident occurred.
“The current number of victims is 51 people. Twelve people died in the incident. There are 39 people with minor and serious injuries,” Dedy Kurniawan, spokesperson for PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, where the plant operates, said in a statement.
The accident occurred around 05:30 (21:30 GMT on Saturday) at the industrial park plant in the province of Central Celebés, the statement added.
Among the dead there are seven Indonesians and five foreigners whose nationalities were not made known.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the explosion occurred during boiler repair work when a flammable liquid caught fire and caused a deflagration that caused nearby oxygen tanks to also explode, the spokesperson added.