ALMATY, Kazakhstan: At least 21 people have died in a fire at a mine in Kazakhstan belonging to global steel giant ArcelorMittal, local officials said Saturday.
The incident prompting the government to order an “end to investment cooperation” with the company.
It was the second deadly disaster in two months at an ArcelorMittal site in Kazakhstan, after five miners were killed in an accident at a mine in the same region in August.
“The government has been ordered to end investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal,” Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement shortly after the fire near the town of Karaganda, an industrial region in central Kazakhstan.
The fire took place near the town of Karaganda, an industrial region in central Kazakhstan.
ArcelorMittal is regularly criticised for failing to comply with safety and environmental standards, with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev previously threatening to ban the group from operating in Kazakhstan.
Sixteen people died in a fire at the Kostenko mine in the central Karaganda region, ArcelorMittal earlier reported.
ArcelorMittal owns 15 coal and iron ore mines in Kazakhstan and an integrated steel plant.
