Cameroon: four killed in explosion at Douala steel plant
Sixteen workers were seriously injured at Metafrique Steel. The governor has criticised the company's failure to apply safety measures imposed after a fire in May.
At least four people were killed and 16 others seriously injured on Monday morning when an explosion and subsequent fire struck a metal processing plant in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital.
The blast occurred at about 7 a.m. on the premises of Metafrique Steel in the Bassa industrial zone, and the fire spread rapidly through the factory. Emergency services recovered four bodies. The injured were taken to Douala General Hospital in a critical condition, most suffering from extensive burns.
The Governor of the Littoral Region, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua, visited the site and the injured in hospital. He condemned the company's failure to comply with safety measures imposed after an earlier fire at the plant in May, announced an investigation into the circumstances of the accident and raised the possibility of suspending the factory's operations.
The incident has once again raised questions in Douala about the protection of workers in industrial facilities.