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Kazakhstan Nationalizes Mine After Fire Kills Dozens

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ASTANA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A coal mine fire in Kazakhstan killed at least 32 people while another 14 remain missing, prompting the government to quickly nationalize the ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which operates the country’s largest steel plants and several coal and ore mines, officials said.

Saturday’s tragedy, the worst of its kind in the Central Asian nation’s recent memory, happened while some 252 people were working at the Kostenko coal mine in the Karaganda region, confirmed mine operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

In a statement, it said the fire was believed to have been caused by a pocket of methane gas.

Just hours after the blaze, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov rushed to announce that the government had reached a preliminary agreement with the company’s shareholders. It was “now in the process of formalizing” the nationalization,” he added.

Kazakhstan’s powerful President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had ordered his cabinet to stop investment cooperation with ArcelorMittal Temirtau, words that suggested a hostile takeover.

He expressed “condolences to the victims’ families” and declared “a national day of mourning” on October 29. As pressure mounted, the company said it had suspended operations of coal unit mines for 24 hours for gas protection checks.

MORE MINERS KILLED

While serious, Saturday’s fire was the latest in a string of workplace deaths at sites operated by ArcelorMittal Temirtau, according to investigators.

In August, four miners were killed after a fire erupted at the same mine, while five people died following a methane leak at another site in November 2022.

Saturday’s announced nationalization comes amid broader reforms in Kazakhstan, which has long been ruled by an authoritarian leader, which also impacted the Christian minority in the heavily Muslim country.

In March this year, Kazakhstan’s dominant Amanat party of President Tokayev received slightly more than half the vote in a snap election for the lower house of parliament.

The vote was held on the fourth anniversary of the resignation of autocratic President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led Kazakhstan since independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

His successor, Tokayev, was widely expected to continue Nazarbayev’s authoritarian course and even renamed the capital Nur-Sultan in his predecessor’s honor.

VIOLENCE WAVE

But he was forced to implement reforms after a wave of violence in January 2022 in which more than 220 people, primarily protesters, died as police harshly put down the unrest.

Amid the violence, Tokayev removed Nazarbayev from his powerful post as head of the National Security Council. He restored the capital’s previous name of Astana, and the parliament repealed a law granting Nazarbayev and his family immunity from prosecution.

The demonstrations began when provincial protests initially sparked by a fuel price hike engulfed other cities, notably the commercial capital, Almaty.

They became overtly political as demonstrators shouted, “Old man out!” about the now 82-year-old Nazarbayev.

While changes are underway, Christians still face challenges. “Russian Orthodox Christians are generally left alone by the state as long as they do not try to influence Muslim-background Kazakhs.

However, believers from Muslim backgrounds are persecuted by both the state and their own communities,” advocacy group Open Doors said.