TIRANA, Jan. 14 – One Albanian worker died and five others were injured following a Monday explosion inside a furnace used as scrap at a Turkish-owned steel plant in Albania, police said.
Firefighters had to work long hours to bring the fire at the furnace under control.
Thousands of unexploded shells are still in possession of Albanians following the turmoil of 1997 when people looted army depots following the fall of the failed pyramid investment schemes.
Other unexploded shells and ordnance have remained in the country since World War II when it was occupied by fascist Italy and German Nazis.
Since 1999, Kurum Steel Co. has operated the steel plant in Elbasan, 55 kilometers south of Tirana, also collecting iron scrap from all around the country.
With a work force of 1,000, Kurum is a major employer in one of Europe’s poorest countries, producing up to 400,000 tons of steel annually.
On Tuesday police said they had arrested two Turkish and one Albanian working as technical managers of the furnace.
Six injured workers remain in critical condition.
The blast occurred when an unexploded shell, among other pieces of scrap metal, was thrown into a furnace at the plant operated by the Turkish-based Kurum Steel Co. in the town of Elbasan, 55 kilometers (34 miles) south of Tirana.
Police were still investigating how the shell became mixed in with the other pieces of scrap, said the spokesman.
