At least 32 workers were killed and two injured on Wednesday when they were engulfed by molten steel at a metal factory in north-east China, the government said.
The accident was triggered when a steel ladle, with a capacity of 30 tonnes of liquid steel, sheared off from the blast furnace, spilling molten metal onto the factory floor about 3m below.
The molten steel then engulfed an adjacent room where all the victims were gathered for a routine shift change, the State Work Safety Administration said in a report.
Rescuers were unable to get closer because of the intense heat of the liquid metal, it added.
The accident happened early in the day in a workshop at the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation in Tieling city in Liaoning province, which is a centre of heavy industry.
It was unclear how many people were working at the time of the accident, or whether the workers in the room were ending or beginning their shifts, or both.
Two machine operators were also injured.
The administration said an undisclosed number of “responsibles” were being investigated.
A steel company official said police had locked down the factory, usual practice in China when criminal investigations are launched into industrial accidents. — AFP