Bone found during missing Japan steel worker search

Suspected human bone fragments have been found inside a vessel which heats metal to more than 1,000C at a steel plant in Japan, police have said.

The discovery came hours after an employee at the Nippon Steel facility in Oita, western Japan, was reported missing.

Police said it was not known if the fragments belonged to the 30-year-old worker, the AFP news agency reported.

DNA tests have been ordered to identify the remains, police spokesman Eijiro Kawano told AFP.

The employee had reportedly begun his shift at 19:00 local time (10:00 GMT) on Monday.

However, he was not reported missing until the following morning.

Police say they searched the factory and within four hours found what they believed to be human remains.

"After searching together with plant workers, we spotted what appears to be fragments of human bone inside a vessel," Mr Kawano said.

"We don't know if these really are human bones or if they belong to the worker who went missing," he said.

"But if these are the man's bones, maybe the worker fell into the pot," he said.

He added that they were investigating whether any workers had witnessed what had happened.

The employee had been working 5m (16ft) above a melting pot which he was overseeing.

The pot, which has a diameter of 5m and depth of around 4m, contained molten metals which are heated to more than 1,000C (1,832F).

Oita's Nippon Steel factory manufactures material for ships, industrial machinery, construction materials and bridges. It mainly exports its products to China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Nippon Steel, which is Japan's largest steelmaker, say they are co-operating fully with investigators.

The incident comes as the company is pressing on with its $14bn (£12bn) takeover of US Steel.

This has become a contentious topic ahead of US elections after President Joe Biden said in March that he was opposed to any potential deal and wanted to keep US Steel domestically owned and operated.