Explosion at U.S. Steel Košice complex, no casualties reported

The No 2 blast furnace in the U.S. Steel Košice plant was damaged from a blast that occurred on Tuesday, June 18.

The No 2 blast furnace in the U.S. Steel Košice plant was damaged from a blast that occurred on Tuesday, June 18.

During preparations for the launch of an operation after a maintenance-related break, a blast was reported at 4:26 in the morning. Head of U.S. Steel Košice’s trade union Mikuláš Hintoš confirmed for the TASR newswire that a blast was heard at that time, but no injuries or fatalities were reported. According to available information, some elevated pipes were damaged. The blast was heard as far as several kilometres away. The cause of the explosion is being investigated, and the investigation team is holding a meeting Tuesday at noon. “Today at 4:26, we had a technical problem during the operation of the blast furnace No 2,” U.S. Steel spokesman Ján Bača said. “Nobody was injured and the surrounding municipalities were not threatened. The internal monitoring system recorded no gas leaks,” he concluded.

(Source: SITA)

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports

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18. Jun 2013 at 14:00