HIROSHIMA, June 27 (Kyodo) — Pig iron from a blast furnace leaked at JFE Steel Corp.'s West Japan Works steel plant early Wednesday in the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, burning around 20 meters of control cable before the fire was extinguished two hours later, company officials said.
The steel manufacturer called the local fire department at 1:40 a.m. Wednesday after the crude iron leaked from around 13 meters up in the No. 5 furnace, where eight workers were still present at the time. No injuries have been reported.
Although the temperature has been maintained inside the furnace, operations have been halted and it is not yet clear when they will be resumed, according to the manufacturer.