7 probed for steelworks accident (3)

(ANSA) - Padua, May 17 - Seven people have been placed under investigation over a Padua steelworks accident that burned four workers, two of them critically, legal sources said Thursday.
    A flood of liquid steel hit the men at the Acciaierie Venete. Those probed include the company heads, the safety heads, and the heads of some sub-contracting companies, sources said. AS part of the probe, prosecutors will now get experts to inspect all relevant machinery, judicial sources said.
    The two steelworkers are being treated for serious burns after being covered by molten steel in the workplace accident.
    Their condition is said to be critical but stable.
    Two other steelworkers are receiving treatment for less serious burns sustained at the 'Acciaierie Venete' when a huge hanging drum transporting 90 tonnes of molten steel came unhooked and fell to the ground, splashing the men nearby.
    The injured are a Romanian national aged 40 and a Moldovan aged 44, who both sustained 100% burns, and two Italians who respectively sustained 70% and more minor burns.
    Prosecutors have impounded the factory, one of six steelworks belonging to 'Acciaierie Venete' in northern Italy.
    The group has 1,300 employees, including 400 at the Padua plant.
    Metalworkers union FIOM called a strike at all the plants on Monday.
    Representatives of trade union confederations CGIL, CISL and UIL also met with Veneto Governor Luca Zaia on Monday to discuss workplace safety in the region.
    There has been a spate of workplace deaths in Italy recently.