What appeared to be human bones have been found in a molten iron pot operating at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius at a Nippon Steel plant in the city of Oita, the steelmaker said on Wednesday.
Oita police said it is highly possible the bones belong to a male worker who was reported missing on Tuesday and are currently conducting DNA tests to identify the remains.
The 30-year-old employee was reported missing since Tuesday morning around 7 a.m. Oita police said they searched the factory and found remains of what appeared to be human bones in the pot four hours later.
The missing employee, who supervised the iron smelting process, started his shift from 7 p.m. on Monday. The crucible, which has a diameter of about 5 meters and a depth of about 4 meters, was located 5 meters lower than where the man was working.
Eijiro Kawano, spokesperson for the Oita Chuo Police Station, said investigations are underway to determine the whereabouts of the missing worker and whether the discovered remains are human bones or not. If so, they will try to identify the remains and investigate how they ended up in the melting pot, he said.
The steelmaker’s Oita plant produces steel for ships, industrial machinery, building materials and bridges, exporting its products mainly to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and China.
Nippon Steel said it would cooperate fully with investigators.
