HABAŞ steel plant: at least 28 workers have died there since 2018

The explosion at the HABAŞ steel plant in Aliağa, İzmir, on 9 November killed 18 workers, and more than a dozen people were injured. It was not the first time the plant has made the news because of deaths at work.

What happened?

The İzmir Governor's Office said the blast happened at around 12:00. According to first findings, an overhead crane snapped during the pouring of molten steel and fell into the electric arc furnace.

Deputy Justice Minister Can Tuncay said the Aliağa chief prosecutor's office ordered the detention of the company's chairman, Mehmet Rüştü Başaran, and 10 other people. Tuncay added that earlier rumours and complaints about worker deaths at the plant were being examined in detail.

HABAŞ said on its website that its pain is "beyond words" and promised to support the families of the dead and the injured.

What had already happened at the plant?

Just weeks earlier, two other workers died there. Hakan Doğan fell from a height on 21 October. Eyüp Eğinli was killed on 5 November in an explosion while air was being pumped into a construction machine tyre.

According to open-source research, at least 28 workers have died at HABAŞ's steel plant and port since 2018. In some cases the company was found at fault. After Kadir Özdemir died in October 2020 while worn metal sheets were being replaced, a court found HABAŞ 70 percent primarily at fault and ordered compensation for his family in 2023, according to İSİG (a group that documents workplace deaths in Turkey).

What does the company's own report say?

HABAŞ's 2025 sustainability report shows a rise in "lost-time accidents", meaning accidents that keep a worker off the job for at least a full day or shift. For HABAŞ's own staff the number went from 109 in 2024 to 146 in 2025. For subcontractor workers it went from 38 to 83, even though working hours fell.

The company says no one died in a work accident in 2025. Seven workers were injured in a blast at the steel furnace that year, though.

The report also says 4,363 safety trainings were held. But another table shows training hours falling from 65,700 to 8,697. The company says its system is audited by independent bodies and by the authorities.

Labour Minister Vedat Işıkhan said the plant had been inspected before and that inspectors found no very serious problems. He said a chief inspector has been assigned and the public will be informed once the inspections are complete. Whether any of the repairs described in the report relate to the crane involved is not known.