One person was killed and several were burned when a large fire broke out after a series of explosions ripped through a blast furnace at the Corus steel plant in Port Talbot in south Wales today, police said.
"One person is dead, two are still missing and 14 are in the local hospital with burns. Some are in a serious condition," Chief Superintendent Neil Jellings said.
A company spokesman said the fire broke out in the number 5 blast furnace.
"There was a break out of hot metal from the furnace. We believe this is what caused the fire," he said.
The furnace area was now stable and all emergency resources were being deployed to the area, he said.
Corus, the steel and aluminium maker formed from the merger of former state-owned British Steel and Dutch rival Hoogovens in October 1999, reported an operating loss of ST£200 million pounds in the six months to June 30th.
It blamed the losses on a deterioration in the global economy and a strong pound.
The firm has announced over 10,000 job losses since its formation, with around 4,000 still to be implemented from a workforce of 55,000 as at June 30th, 2001.