struck<\/a> at the Kostenko coal mine in the Karaganda region on Saturday, came after a series of deadly incidents at ArcelorMittal mines and has prompted the nationalisation of the company\u2019s local affiliate.<\/p>\nKazakhstan\u2019s emergency services said on social media that the bodies of 45 people had been found, whereas the search for four miners continued.<\/p>\n
Rescuers earlier warned that finding the remaining miners alive were \u201cvery low\u201d, due to the lack of ventilation and the force of Saturday\u2019s explosion.<\/p>\n
The death toll overtook a 2006 accident that left 41 miners dead at another ArcelorMittal site. It also came just two months after another incident killed five miners.<\/p>\n
ArcelorMittal, led by Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal, operates some 15 factories and mines in the centre of the former Soviet republic.<\/p>\n
Anger and disbelief reigned after the disaster in Karaganda, central Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery miner is a hero, because when he goes down, he does not know if he will come back or not,\u201d said former miner Sergei Glazkov.<\/p>\n
Many welcomed the government\u2019s move towards nationalisation, angered by the company\u2019s safety record.<\/p>\n
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered cooperation with the Luxembourg-based company to be \u201cbrought to an end\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking to victims\u2019 relatives at the mine, Tokayev called ArcelorMittal \u201cthe worst enterprise in Kazakhstan\u2019s history in terms of cooperation with the government\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Kazakh government and the steel giant announced a preliminary agreement to \u201ctransfer ownership of the (local) firm in favour of the Republic of Kazakhstan\u201d, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cArcelorMittal can confirm that the two parties have\u2026 signed a preliminary agreement for a transaction that will transfer ownership to the Republic of Kazakhstan,\u201d the global steel giant stated, adding it was committed to \u201cfinalising this transaction as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, flags were at half-mast to mark the day of national mourning declared by Tokayev, an AFP<\/em> correspondent saw.<\/p>\nThere were 252 people inside the mine when the fire started, ArcelorMittal said.<\/p>\n
Outside a hospital in Karaganda, relatives of those who had survived the blast were thanking the heavens.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis guardian angel saved him. He is alive,\u201d said Nikolai Bralin, the brother of an injured miner.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo of his ribs were slightly torn apart from the blow and he had surgery to put them back in place,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Local politicians also called for the immediate nationalisation of the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey must answer before court because they did not ensure people\u2019s safety,\u201d said local MP Kudaibergen Beksultanov. \u201cThe state needs to take it upon itself now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s arrival in Kazakhstan in 1995 was initially seen as a beacon of hope during the economic slump that followed the fall of communism.<\/p>\n
But a lack of investment and inadequate safety standards were repeatedly criticised by the authorities, while trade unions called for tighter government control.<\/p>\n
Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KARAGANDA: Kazakhstan held nationwide mourning on Sunday after 45 people died in a blaze at an ArcelorMittal mine, the worst accident in the Central Asian country\u2019s post-Soviet history. The tragedy, which struck at the Kostenko coal mine in the Karaganda region on Saturday, came after a series of deadly incidents at ArcelorMittal mines and has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/30072534c3fa04e.png?r=072611","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t