Worker dies at steelworks set ablaze by blasts

Five men remained critically ill with severe burns today after a series of explosions at the Corus steel factory in Port Talbot, south Wales which killed one person.

Fourteen people were taken to hospital after the accident and several are being treated for burns and flash injuries.

Corus said today it was working with the emergency services, to locate one person who remained unaccounted for following last night's blast.

"The blast furnace condition is currently being assessed and at this stage iron production has obviously stopped in Blast Furnace No 5, although the rest of the steelworks is operating normally," the company said.

Tracie Tutton was on her way home from work with her children when she saw "billowing black smoke" coming from the Corus plant. "I saw the thick, black smoke but did not realise it was so serious. I did not connect it to coming from an accident. There was just a lot of black smoke. It must have happened about 5pm.

"My husband works as a crane driver near the site. He is down there and phoned to say there were a lot of ambulances but I have not heard from him since."

The Foreign Office minister Peter Hain, who represents the neighbouring constituency of Neath, described the incident as "catastrophic".

He said: "Many of my constituents work at Margam [the factory]. Our hearts go out to the victim and family."

People living near the plant reported hearing three loud explosions. Peter Price, 44, said: "There was a bang followed by two more soon after. It was like someone dropping a heavy skip outside the house. Then we could see a lot of flames and smoke coming from the steelworks. I've lived here for years and I've never seen anything like this before."

Clive Owen, a local councillor, said the furnace affected had been due to be relined in 2004 and contractors had been working on it as an interim measure. "They were going to be relining it in a couple of years and I think they were patching it up," he said.

"I heard about three explosions. I ran out to the garden to see what it was and I could see a lot of smoke. Then the fire engines and ambulances started coming in."

Del Morgan, a Plaid Cymru councillor, added: "There are so many people working at the site that everyone will know people there. This could well have an economic impact, but at the moment our thoughts have got to be with the people affected and their families."

A 40mph speed limit was imposed on the M4, which runs next to the sprawling site, as smoke blew across the road.

Seven fire engines were at the scene and 35 firefighters were tackling the blaze.

The once-great Welsh steel industry, which employed more than 30,000 people 20 years ago before it was privatised, now employs only 9,000. But Corus, the Dutch company that merged with British Steel, has kept the Port Talbot plant open.

It is judged to be one of the most efficient in Europe. Initially workers there thought they had escaped the job cuts, which affected other plants around the country. However, about 6,000 jobs were lost in the region, with at least 200 going at Port Talbot.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation, said: "We will be launching our own investigation to find out exactly what caused the explosion. We shall be working closely with Corus but we shall also be asking them some serious questions to find out why this has happened. Our members expect nothing less."