TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Five more victims lost their lives from the explosion of a smelter furnace owned by PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel. This brings the total number of fatalities to 18, consisting of eight foreign workers and 10 local workers.

Morowali Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Suprianto said that the five victims had undergone intensive treatment at the Morowali Regional General Hospital (RSUD). Unfortunately their lives could not be saved.

"As of this morning, the death toll at the Morowali District Hospital has increased by five. One is a local worker and four are foreign workers," Suprianto told Tempo via text message on Tuesday morning, December 26.

The five victims who died were among the 46 people who were injured when the smelter exploded.

Suprianto said that the Morowali Police, together with the Central Sulawesi Regional Police and the National Police Headquarters' Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) were still investigating the incident.

The smelter furnace at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel factory exploded on Sunday morning, December 24 at around 05:30 local time.

Sr. Comr. Djoko Wienartono, head of PR at the Central Sulawesi Regional Police, said that the incident happened when a technical team was repairing a nickel furnace on the second floor. At the time, "an explosion occurred accompanied by a burst of fire which resulted in a fire," said Commissioner Djoko in a press release on Monday, December 25.

TEMPO.CO

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