KARAGANDA: Kaza­khs­tan said on Saturday 32 people died in a fire at an ArcelorMittal mine, with over a dozen still missing in the worst such disaster in years, prompting the nationalisation of the company’s local affiliate.

President Kassym-Jom­art Tokayev ordered his government to take control of the Kazakh branch of the company after the fire which followed a methane explosion at the Kostenko mine in the central Karaganda region.

The emergency situations ministry stated the bodies of 32 people had been found and added “the search for 14 miners is continuing.” The ministry added there was “very little chance of finding alive” those still missing. More than 250 people were working onsite at the time of the explosion.

At the scene, emergency workers comforted dozens of people, some with their heads in their hands as they waited anxiously for news of those who had been working below the surface.

“My father Moukat has worked at this mine for 40 years. He’s been hurt and has had surgery. They’ve promised us he will recover,” Anouar Vralin, his son, said.

ArcelorMittal, led by Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal, has a history of deadly disasters in Kazakhstan and is regularly accused of failing to respect safety and environmental regulations.

The fire was one of the deadliest in Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet history and came just two months after five miners were killed in a blast at a site owned by the company.

“This is a tragedy,” Tokayev said as he met with families of the victims. He called for a day of national mourning on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2023