Explosion at Douala Steel Plant in Cameroon Kills Four, Seriously Burns 16

An explosion and fire tore through the Metafrique Steel plant in the Bassa industrial zone of Douala, Cameroon's commercial capital, on Monday morning, November 2. At least four people were killed and 16 others were severely burned, Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region, told reporters, according to Reuters.

The blast set off a fire at the plant, and the fire was later extinguished. An army rescue unit recovered the four bodies, Diboua said. Journal du Cameroun reported that firefighters deployed to put out the flames found the dead at the scene, and that the 16 burned workers, all employees of the company, were taken to Douala General Hospital for treatment. Local reports put the explosion at about 7:30 a.m.

The governor's warning

Diboua went to Douala General Hospital, where the burned workers are being treated. "We must not be too optimistic given the severity of the burns," he said, in comments reported by Reuters.

Cameroonian outlet Camer.be reported that the governor accused the company of ignoring safety rules after earlier fires at the same plant. "Despite the first cases of fire, the safety measures were not taken," he said, according to Camer.be. The governor announced that an investigation has been opened to determine the exact causes of the fire, and he raised the possibility that the plant's activities should be halted.

What the company says

Metafrique Steel said its facilities in Bassa Industrial Park had been affected by an "incident, which was caused by an external factor and whose causes have yet to be determined," Reuters reported. The company gave no further detail in that statement.

A plant that has burned before

This is not the first serious fire at the site. In the night of April 30 to May 1, 2026, a fire damaged part of the Metafrique Steel facilities in the Bassa industrial zone and injured 10 people, nine Cameroonians and one Indian national, according to Business in Cameroon. Some of the injured were in critical condition, and the company temporarily shut the plant while it investigated. An earlier fire in April 2022 damaged raw material stocks at the plant without causing casualties, Business in Cameroon reported.

Metafrique Steel is a subsidiary of India's Metafrique group. It recycles ferrous scrap to produce rebar and other steel products, according to Business in Cameroon.

What happens next

Officials have not released the names of the four people killed. The cause of Monday's explosion has not been determined, and the investigation the governor announced will decide what happens at the plant next, including whether its work is stopped. The 16 injured workers remain under treatment at Douala General Hospital.