 When emergency services arrived , they were initially unable to provide assistance as the high temperatures of the molten steel prevented them from entering the area and they had to wait for the steel to cool . When they were eventually able to access the area , they discovered thirty @-@ two workers had been killed by the spill . Six others in the room survived and were rushed to the hospital with severe burns . According to doctors , five workers were initially listed as being in a stable condition , with the others listed as critical . They were said to be of risk of contracting infections through their burns . However , an earlier statement on the website of the State Administration of Work Safety published conflicting information , saying that the thirty @-@ two deceased represented everyone in the room at the time , and that only two people were injured - the operators of the ladle . The official Xinhua press agency also released a report stating that the ladle fell on workers below , but this was unclear as in to whether the workers were in fact crushed or whether this , too , conflicted with the other reports . 
