ELEVEN workers of a sugar factory have been killed following an explosion at the factory which is located in Tanzania. The victims included three foreign nationals, police said.
The explosion which occurred on Thursday, May 23 was a result of an electrical fault that caused a steam pipe to burst as a technical team was readying machines to start production for the day at the privately owned Mtibwa Sugar Factory in the Morogoro region in eastern Tanzania, regional police chief Alex Mkama told the media.
All the deceased were electrical and machine staff who were working in the control room at the time, Mr Mkama added.
The three foreigners were from neighbouring Kenya, Brazil and India. Two other workers were injured in the blast and were treated at the Morogoro hospital. The doctor in charge there, David Ruchamisa, said they were later rushed to the capital, Dodoma, for further treatment.
Mtibwa is one of the country’s major sugar producing factories, producing at least 70,000 metric tons of sugar annually, according to government data.
Following the blast, Mtibwa Sugar Company has suspended all production activities in the factory, one of the biggest in the country.
The bodies of the deceased workers have been moved to the mortuary of the factory’s hospital.
