By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
Ten (10) employees of Jinfa Steel have been left serious injured following an explosion at their place of work in Chambishi.
The explosion occurred after foreign harmful substances were thrown into the furnace.
Copperbelt Police Commissioner Elias Chushi said of those injured, one is a Chinese.
Mr Chushi said the cause of the explosion is not yet known but one eyewitness explained that the workers were loading scrap metals in the furnace, after which there was a loud explosion.
He said the accident happened on May 13, 2021 which occurred between 07:45 hours and 08:00 hours, were Zambian employees got injured.
He identified the victims as; Evans Kalufyanga 46, Maybin Nkandu 29, Gideon Mtonga 32, Timothy Chibwe 40, Mike Shabukome 28, Aaron Musonda 29, Kunda Nkandu 24, Angel Mubanga 29, Christine Simwanza 31, and Musonda Everisto 29.
Mr Chushi said that in the same incident, one Chinese, Luo Yi Ping 55, of Jinfa Steel, sustained multiple burns during the explosion.
He said it is suspected that some scrap metals had harmful substances which could have caused the explosion.
“All the casualties are admitted to Sinozam Friendly Hospital in Kitwe and out of the 11 casualties, six (6) are in a critical condition, whereas (5) are stable. The Company management didn’t report this matter,” he said.
