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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - Jakarta: The death toll from an explosion at a Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island rose to 18 on Tuesday, with police ordering the facility to halt operations to investigate the incident.  

More than 40 people were also injured in the fire that occurred early Sunday morning at Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, the latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has Indonesia’s largest reserves of the metal. 

Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles, and Indonesia accounts for about 21 million tons of it, or 22 percent of the global reserves, according to the US Geological Survey. 

“Up until today, we note that 18 victims died from the incident. This includes 10 Indonesian workers and eight Chinese workers,” Dedy Kurniawan, spokesperson of the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park where ITSS is located, said in a statement on Tuesday.  

“The company entrusts to the authorities the process of investigating this work accident in ITSS and guarantees cooperation with all parties regarding recommendations to handle the impacts that may arise in accordance with the applicable legal system.” 

A team of investigators from regional and national police is probing the incident. 

“For now, ITSS’s operations are halted until there are results from our investigation,” Agus Nugroho, Central Sulawesi police chief, told reporters.  

Indonesia has been trying to develop downstream nickel industries and attract foreign investment from manufacturers of electric vehicles and their batteries, signing more than a dozen deals worth over $15 billion just in the last three years.  

Over the last decade, Central Sulawesi’s Bahodopi district, where IMIP is located, has grown from a village of a few hundred residents to become home to thousands of workers, many of whom are working for Chinese-funded companies.  

Fifty-seven workplace-related deaths and 76 injuries befell workers across various nickel-mining sites in Indonesia between 2015 and 2020, according to Indonesian energy nonprofit Trend Asia. Many took place at the IMIP, a vast joint venture with China’s Tsingshan Holding Group.  

“Work accidents due to poor working conditions in Indonesia’s mining industry are like the tip of the iceberg,” Melky Nahar, national coordinator at the Mining Advocacy Network, told Arab News. “At IMIP, at least three deadly work accidents have occurred (this year).”  

He added that both Indonesian and Chinese workers employed at mining facilities in Sulawesi face unsafe and unstable working conditions. 

“These conditions are hidden, sometimes even maintained, by the companies. The government also couldn’t care less. When workers protest, they face intimidation, violence, and even imprisonment,” Nahar said.