Tragic incident at AMSA coke oven battery
VANDERBIJLPARK, RSA – ArcelorMittal South Africa has announced that an incident at its Vanderbijlpark operations on Wednesday, 17 February 2021, resulted in the tragic death of three ArcelorMittal South Africa employees. When the incident occurred, the priority was on securing the safety of all employees and on the search and rescue efforts for the three missing employees.
The employees succumbed to injuries sustained when a portion of a 90m stack at one of the operation’s coke batteries failed and fell onto the coke battery control room in which they were working at the time.
ArcelorMittal South Africa has launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. All relevant authorities have been notified and the company will cooperate fully with their investigations.
The coke battery affected by the incident is one of five batteries currently in operation at Vanderbijlpark Works. ArcelorMittal South Africa also has additional coke making capacity at its Newcastle Works. The company has been importing limited supply as required and has access to these sources to maintain steel production if needed.
The capacity available at present will ensure sufficient supply of coke for running both blast furnaces at Vanderbijlpark Works and there will therefore be no impact on flat steel production and supply from Vanderbijlpark Works.
