Furnace Explosion at Chinese-Owned Nickel Plant in Indonesia Kills at Least 13, Injures 46 Others

Furnace Explosion at Chinese-Owned Nickel Plant in Indonesia Kills at Least 13, Injures 46 Others
A Chinese worker who was injured in the explosion at a nickel smelter furnace is brought to the Morowali Regional General Hospital in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Dec. 24, 2023. STR/AFP via Getty Images
The Associated Press
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PALU, Indonesia—A smelting furnace exploded Sunday at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others, police and a company official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of the Chinese communist regime’s ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.