Molten iron kills four in China factory

Chongqing (China), Dec 26 (Xinhua) Four workers were killed and 14 injured after molten iron spilled out of an electric furnace at a smelting factory in southwest China early Friday, an official said.

The accident occurred around 8 a.m. at the Taizheng Manganese Company in Chengkou county.

Raw metal, being fed into an electric furnace, dropped in all at once. It caused molten iron to overflow, the county's Party chief Mi Shaolin said.

Four workers died on the spot. The injured 14 - four of them in critical condition - had been rushed to the hospital.

Mi said an initial investigation showed the overflow was accidental and not caused by lax safety management. However, a final report was yet to be submitted, he said.