Seven killed in Kazakhstan coal-mine blast
11/01/2008 - 08:26:43At 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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