A tragic incident occurred on October 28, 2023, when a fire erupted at the Kostenko coal mine in Kazakhstan, resulting in the loss of 32 workers' lives and 14 miners remain missing, making it one of the deadliest incidents in the country's recent history
Following the incident, 18 individuals were hospitalized, with 15 of them suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning and receiving treatment in the toxicology department.
The fire is believed to have been caused by methane gas. This mine is operated by ArcelorMittal Company Temirtão, a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, one of the world's largest steel producers, headquartered in Luxembourg.
ArcelorMitta's murderous history of mine fires
ArcelorMittal has a troubling history of safety incidents in Kazakhstan and is frequently accused of disregarding safety and environmental regulations. This tragedy occurred just two months after another fatal incident in a mine owned by the company, in which five miners lost their lives.The company has a total of eight coal mines in the Karaganda region and four iron ore mines in Kazakhstan's central and northern areas.
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Alarmingly, there have been five additional deadly accidents at ArcelorMittal mines in Kazakhstan since November of the previous year, resulting in a total of 12 fatalities. In response to the incident, ArcelorMittal pledged to provide compensation to the affected families and assured their cooperation with the authorities. The 2006 mine fire when 41 miners lost their lives at an ArcelorMittal site is considered one of the worst in history of Kazakhstan.
ArcelorMittal operates numerous mines in Kazakhstan's industrial region, but these accidents are not uncommon due to aging infrastructure, equipment, and lax safety standards. The Kazakh government had threatened to ban ArcelorMittal from operating in the country in December 2022 after a worker's death and a prior incident that claimed the lives of five miners at an ArcelorMittal site.
Kazakstan's President reacts
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had strongly criticized ArcelorMittal, describing it as the "worst" company in the country's history in terms of cooperation with the government and ordered the Kazakh government to assume control of the company's local operations.
President Tokayev declared a day of national mourning and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims during his visit to the Karaganda region. Tokayev appointed the former ArcelorMittal employee Vadim Basin as the head of the company, as he believed that the current management was ineffective. The government of Kazakhstan also expressed its intent to work towards nationalizing the company's operations in the wake of this devastating event.
The cause of the accident is yet to be determined, with an investigative commission set to be established. President Tokayev has announced the formation of an investigative commission to determine the cause of the fire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to his Kazakh ally and hoped for the safe rescue of miners still underground. Kazakhstan's President, Tokayev, had previously criticized the recurring accidents involving ArcelorMittal, stating that over 100 people had lost their lives in incidents related to the company since 2006.
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