Jan 7, 2001 - 10:00 AM

Mixer Filled With Molten Iron Explodes in Japanese Factory, Killing Three The Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) - A vat of molten iron exploded at a factory in western Japan on Sunday, killing three workers and severely burning another, police said. The lid flew off a rotating mixing machine at the Kogi Co. cast iron factory in Himeji, said Masafumi Oshita, a police official in the Hyogo prefecture.

Molten iron flew as far as 90 feet from the machine, he said. The blast did not spark a fire in the factory.

Kogi, which makes steel castings, has 462 employees, and 11 were inside the factory at the time of the accident. Police were investigating its cause. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA37YNVOHC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), January 07, 2001