KAZAKHSTAN said Sunday that 42 bodies of miners were found at an ArcelorMittal facility, with four still missing, making it the deadliest such accident in the Central Asian country’s post-Soviet history.
The blaze ignited on Saturday and 32 people were initially reported dead at the Kostenko mine, which is owned by steel giant ArcelorMittal.
The new figure was confirmed by the ministry for emergency situations as rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble.
The search for four missing miners is ongoing at the partially destroyed mine.
Emergency services are searching for the miners in two main areas of the wreckage, spaced more than 4 kilometres apart.
“The search operation is hampered by the presence of destroyed mining equipment, as well as rubble in some places”, the ministry said in a statement.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been evacuated.
The fire, which is believed to have been sparked by a methane blast, broke out on the same day as a deal to nationalise the company’s mining operations in Kazakhstan was confirmed.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had ordered investment in the country’s biggest steel mill to be halted prior to the blaze as he pushed for nationalisation.
He expressed his condolences to the families of the bereaved, calling the incident a “tragedy” and describing ArcelorMittal Termitau, the local unit of the company, as “the worst” in Kazakhstan’s history “from the point of view of cooperation with the government and the enterprise”.
“Now we will think of taking a decision in regards to the enterprise itself,” he told Reuters.
ArcelorMittal said it would cooperate with authorities and promised compensation, according to AFP news agency.
It added that the first stage of the nationalising process is underway and it “will commit to finalising this transaction as soon as possible”.
The regional health department said 15 of those who have been hospitalised are being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to his Kazakh ally.
