Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smaiylov on August 19 blamed the owners of a coal mine for a deadly fire that took the lives of four miners this week in central Kazakhstan.
Smaiylov, who arrived on August 19 in Shakhtinsk, a city about 60 kilometers from Temirtau, where the mine is located, said the company’s noncompliance with the rules of the industry was the main cause of the fire.
"This is primarily the fault of the owners of the company. Their complete ignorance of the company's activities has been leading to tragic events for several years," he said. "As we can see, all this time, workers have not been provided adequate conditions, and attention has been paid only to profit."
The fire broke out on August 17 at the Kazakhsanskaya mine in Temirtau, a city in the Karaganda region southeast of Astana. ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local mining unit of international mining corporation ArcelorMittal, announced on August 19 that another body had been found, bringing the number killed to four. One miner is still missing.
At least 227 miners were underground when the fire broke out.
Kazakh authorities have started an investigation into the incident but have not yet released any information.
Smaiylov said the company's lack of compliance with industry rules has led to more frequent accidents, adding that after every major accident in the past, the company has claimed it took measures to make working conditions safer, but the situation has not changed.
The coal mine is one of eight owned by ArcelorMittal Temirtau and is one of the oldest mines in Kazakhstan, having been in operation since 1969. Its Luxembourg-based parent company, ArcelorMittal, is the world's second-largest steelmaker.
According to Smaiylov, a metal plant integrated with the coal mine is dilapidated because the company has not renewed production. Since privatization its production indicators have decreased by half, he said, while the mine's coal production has decreased by about 25 percent.
He said the environment around Temirtau has also been badly affected by air pollution primarily from the ArcelorMittal operation.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau has promised to help the families of the workers who died. The company also said that it would assist the government authorities in determining the cause of the fire.
Sergei Ogai, a representative of ArcelorMittal Temirtau, told journalists during a briefing in Shakhtinsk on August 18 that he did not have the authority to answer whether the coal mine and the metal plant could be returned to state ownership.
ArcelorMittal operates the integrated steel plant in Temirtau, employing nearly 14,000 people there, according to information at the parent company’s website. The company in 2018 announced a $198 million environmental investment program in the ArcelorMittal Temirtau operation.
The local plant has been instrumental in building a comprehensive environmental action plan with local stakeholders, the information says.