A new accident at an ArcelorMittal site has cost the lives of at least 21 miners. Following this tragedy, Kazakhstan announced this Saturday a preliminary agreement with the group to regain control of the local subsidiary of the global steel giant.
“The government has reached a preliminary agreement with the shareholders of ArcelorMittal Temirtaou and is finalizing the transaction to transfer ownership of the company in favor of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the Prime Minister announced in a statement after the accident in the mine Kostenko in Karaganda, in the center of this immense Central Asian country.
23 miners still underground
The Kazakh government said in a separate statement that it was “carrying out work to regain control of the company for the benefit of Kazakhstan” and “not considering transferring it to other foreign investors”.
According to a latest report from ArcelorMittal at 12 p.m. local time (8 a.m. French time), the accident, the causes of which have not been specified, left at least 21 dead. “The lifeless bodies of 21 miners were found,” announced ArcelorMittal, specifying that 23 miners were “still underground, while 208 were brought to the surface, including 18 injured,” out of a total of 252 miners present at the site. moment of the drama.
Safety and environmental standards
Immediately after the announcement of the tragedy, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered in a press release to “end cooperation” with the group. The Kazakh leader went to the scene of the tragedy at midday, according to the presidential administration. The Kazakh subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, one of the world leaders in steel and mining, is regularly accused by the authorities of not respecting safety and environmental standards.
Earlier, the regional administration reported a fire last night in this mine, where 40 rescuers were sent to the site, as well as the Minister of Emergency Situations Syrym Charipkhanov. This is the worst mining accident in Kazakhstan since 2006, when 41 miners lost their lives on an ArcelorMittal site and the second fatal accident in two months on a site of the group, after the death of five miners in mid-August in the same region.
The “systemic nature” of accidents
ArcelorMittal operates around fifteen factories and mines in this extremely polluted industrial zone of this immense former Soviet republic rich in natural resources. The Kazakh government has in recent months denounced the “systemic nature” of the accidents involving the group, which have cost the lives of “more than a hundred people since 2006”.
Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia, is full of oil and gas, but also uranium, manganese, iron, chrome and coal. Mine accidents are quite common in the countries of the former Soviet Union due to both the dilapidation of installations and lax safety.