15/05/2024
TWO DEAD, TWO INJURED IN COEGA STEELS EXPLOSION
Two men, aged 39 and 48 were killed and two aged 38 and 49 were injured during an explosion of a furnace at Coega Steels at around lunch time yesterday.
Emergency services arrived on the scene quickly and transported the injured to hospital where they are being treated for burns.
In an internal statement to staff members, Coega Steels CEO, Hassan Khan, said the company was in crisis management and would give staff further direction as to what was happening to the plant and when they should return back to work.
He went on to say that the Department of Labour was on site and there would be a thorough investigation as to what led to the "tragic events".
A similar occurrence took place about two years and nine months ago when five employees were badly burned following an explosion at the plant.
On that occasion, the Department of Labour found Coega Steels had flouted various health and safety regulations.
It had continued its production that day and failed to notify the Department of the incident without conducting an internal investigation to determine the cause of the accident that turned out to be human error.
The Labour Inspectors issued a prohibition notice to stop all operations at the furnace department where the explosion took place as there were "no steps or actions taken by the employer to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents."
SAPS has opened an inquest document.
