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Seven killed in Kazakhstan coal-mine blast


At least seven miners were killed when an explosion ripped through a coal mine in Kazakhstan today, a regional governor said.

Twenty-three others were missing after the blast at the Abay mine in the central Karaganda region and a rescue mission was under way, said governor Nurlan Nigmatulin.

The district hospital said five miners had been admitted with serious burns and other injuries, and three of them were in a critical condition.

The Abay mine is one of eight in the Central Asian nation owned by the world’s largest steel-maker, Arcelor Mittal. The mines are part of a complex which includes the Temirtau smelter, one of the world's largest steel plants.

In 2006 an explosion at another Mittal-owned coal mine killed 41 people. Authorities concluded that the blast happened as a result of safety rule violations.


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