Three people were injured, two of them seriously, during an incident in a factory of the steelmaker Novasco (formerly Ascométal) in Hagondange, in Moselle, we learned on Tuesday from the firefighters and Novasco.
The incident occurred on Monday around 9:30 p.m. when a bag of molten metal fell, firefighters said, adding that there were two seriously injured and one lightly injured. Their vital prognosis is not engaged, according to the same source.
Novasco confirmed in a press release the occurrence of “a major accident” at the Hagondange steelworks during which “three employees were seriously injured” and taken “to the burns unit of Mercy, near Metz”.
An ongoing investigation
“We are doing everything we can to determine the causes of this serious accident. The installation was secured by fire crews and services. The latter, accompanied by an expert, were able to note the absence of any risk of contamination or pollution both for the employees present and for those surrounding the factory,” explains Novasco. “An investigation is now underway and the steelworks will remain shut down for the duration of the analysis,” it is added.
A medico-psychological emergency unit has been set up on the Hagondange site. “In these difficult circumstances, our priority is to support the victims and do everything to understand the exact causes of last night’s events,” Novasco said.
Formerly Ascométal, the Hagondange factory was renamed Novasco in September, a few months after the purchase of Ascométal in July by the British fund Greybull Capital, a specialist in the recovery of companies in difficulty.
This factory employs around 450 people.
