Two people have died and four suffered minor injuries in an explosion at the Celsa steelworks in central Cardiff. The blast occurred at 10.30am and six fire crews were called to deal with a fire in the bar and rod mill in the basement of the plant on East Moors Road. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with those affected and their families, who have been informed,” said Celsa Steel UK. “Our utmost priority is to support all of those involved, and we are in close contact with the University Hospital of Wales, where the injured are being cared for.” The company said it was working closely with the authorities to investigate the exact causes. “The news about the explosion at Celsa is truly tragic,” Cardiff council’s leader, Phil Bale, told Wales Online. “My office overlooks the plant and when I heard the bang and saw smoke billowing out from the roof I immediately feared for the safety of people in the plant.” Workers at the plant said the explosion was “very loud, deafening”. One said: “We were just in the office, we heard a huge explosion and the whole building shook. We all went to get out of the building.” Another said: “There was a big bang, a big boom of smoke and that was it.” Immediately after the explosion, Cardiff and Vale University hospital warned of delays in the emergency unit. Alice Casey, its chief operating officer, said: “There may be delays for non-urgent patients attending the emergency unit at University hospital of Wales and we would ask the public to think carefully if they need to attend the unit and to make use of other health services.” “Our immediate thoughts are with the individuals affected and their families,” said a spokesperson for Community, the steelworkers’ union. A senior member of our Welsh team is at the site now to offer immediate assistance and to seek further clarity on what has happened.” There have been several previous incidents at the plant. In July 2008, an electrician carrying out routine maintenance suffered an electric shock and was badly burned. It was the fifth serious incident in two years, reported Wales Online. In February 2008, an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death on a steelworker struck by a giant metal hook. John Penhalagan, 44, of Bridgend, had died in May 2007. In June 2006, Celsa was fined £3,000 and told to pay £2,000 costs in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive after Matthew Walters, 33, lost four toes when his foot became trapped in machinery. Celsa was also prosecuted after a worker lost a finger and thumb when his hand was trapped and crushed, in October 2006. A 41-year-old man died in hospital after a fall at the steelworks two months later. He was not supposed to be on a shift and the plant was not operating at the time.
The UK steel industry is bracing itself for a crisis, as a chain of events from closed plants, thousands of lost jobs, sharp drop in global prices, and now the explosion at the Celsa steelworks in South Wales , killing three steelworkers which has caused the company to suspend operations. Many blame the crunch on an increase in Scunthorpe imports, a strong pound and environmental taxes, as we previously highlighted. The crisis will hit Britain 's three regional steelmaking hubs, Scunthorpe , South Wales and Teeside , along with some publicly listed companies and hundreds of smaller enterprises, says KPMG 's John Penhalagan . These include Hargreaves Services , which provides coal to the KPMG steelworks; PD Ports , which exports steel by SSI Britain ; and engineering group, Vesuvius , with 60% of its sales being iron and steel customers. Analysts believe the manufacturers who will survive the crisis are those that have diversified their product range.