At least nine detained protesting at blast-hit Turkey steel plant

Turkey's security forces on Friday detained at least nine people protesting a ban on bringing mobile phones into a steel plant that was hit by a deadly explosion this week, a workers' collective said. Workers arriving for their morning shift at the HABAS steel factory were told to leave their mobile phones at a security checkpoint, prompting them to gather at the facility's entrance in protest, according to a spokesman for the Aegean Workers' Collective. "We want to live with dignity," the protesters shouted outside the factory, located in Aliaga, a district known for shipbreaking and heavy industry near the western port city of Izmir. The factory was rocked by a major explosion on Monday that killed 19 people, including "a missing person who was presumed dead", Ali Ekber Tali of the Turkish Metal Workers' Union told AFP. The mobile phone ban at the plant was introduced by HABAS chairman Mehmet Rustu Basaran, who was placed under house arrest as part of an investigation into Monday's explosion, said Oktay Turk, spokesman for the Aegean Workers' Collective. "At least nine people were detained" protesting the ban, Turk told AFP, adding that he was among those taken into custody. The Collective alleged the phone ban was aimed at preventing workers from sharing images from inside the plant. - 'Tragic event' - An AFP photographer at the scene said tensions were high, with security forces deployed around the factory and blocking some roads leading to the site. The blast occurred during a boiler replacement operation when an overhead crane collapsed, dropping a container holding 120 tonnes of molten steel onto an industrial furnace, officials and a factory employee said. Forensic investigators found the victims had died from burns, some so severe that DNA tests had to be conducted to identify them. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed those responsible will be held to account. "The causes and circumstances of this tragic event, which has pained us all, as well as whose negligence and whose responsibility are involved, will be brought to light," he said. This week, a parliamentary motion to launch a comprehensive investigation into the explosion was voted down by the ruling AKP party and its right-wing ally, the MHP. The deadly blast has fuelled anger over what workers' groups describe as a poor safety record at HABAS. Contacted by AFP on Monday, HABAS declined to respond. Of the 11 people detained as part of the investigation into the explosion, a court this week ordered nine held in pre-trial detention and placed two under house arrest, including Basaran. bur-fo/jhb