2 dead in collapsed dump site at Indonesia nickel plant

By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN
Associated Press

PALU, Indonesia (AP) — Two bodies have been recovered following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site in Indonesia, in the latest of a series of deadly accidents at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants on the Southeast Asian nation’s Sulawesi island. Dedy Kurniawan, a spokesperson for PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, said Friday the victims were operating two dump trucks Thursday in the disposal area when they were engulfed by a wall of black sludge-like material, a type of soft gravel removed in ferronickel burning. He said rescuers managed to pull the men’s bodies out after a three-hour operation, adding that the company was conducting an investigation into what caused the accident.