Kazakhstan mine fire leaves 32 dead

At least 32 people have died and 14 remained missing after a coal mine fire in Kazakhstan, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Saturday (October 28).

Some 252 people were working at the Kostenko coal mine at the time of the blaze, believed to have been caused by a pocket of methane gas, the operating company ArcelorMittal Temirtau said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau is the local representative for Luxembourg-based multinational ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steel producer. It operates eight coal mines across the Karaganda region and a further four iron ore mines in central and northern Kazakhstan.

The fire is the latest in a string of workplace deaths at sites operated by ArcelorMittal Temirtau. In August, four miners were killed after a fire erupted at the same mine, while five people died following a methane leak at another site in November 2022._Agencies