I’ve been around those smelters. The heat is unbearable even from from a good distance away. I hope his demise was indeed at least mercifully quick. May he rest in peace.
It’s a hard way to go, and on a new job. I have hard time believing they would put him out there without training or safety equipment or even pair him with a trainer or experienced worker.
I had a friend who worked at US Steel Hegwish. He told stories. A smelter is a dangerous place. A little splash of molten metal in a puddle of water = big explosion. A spill and you are burned or incinerated.