13 dead in explosion at Indonesia nickel plant

Palu: A smelting furnace exploded Sunday at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

It was the latest of a series of deadly accidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China’s ambitious transnational development program known as BRI. Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles.