18 killed in explosion at Mittal Steel's Kazakh mine

ALMATY: At least 18 people were dead and some 25 were missing on Wednesday in an explosion at a coal mine in Kazakhstan belonging to Mittal Steel, company sources said.

The head of Mittal Steel in Kazakhstan said only that a total of 43 miners were missing after the explosion at the Lenin coal mine in the central region of Karaganda some 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital Astana.

A separate source at the company said 18 bodies had been recovered. “Forty-three are missing. They are missing. The number of dead is much lower. We cannot confirm that all are dead,” said Mittal Steel Temirtau CEO Naval Choudhary told Reuters by telephone. He said he had no accurate death toll as he was waiting for information from the mine, a labyrinth of some seven shafts. Interfax said the miners died in a methane gas explosion.

A spokesman contacted by Reuters at the emergencies ministry in Karaganda said a rescue operation was under way. Interfax news agency said 324 miners working underground at the time of the blast got out unharmed. The explosion occurred on Wednesday morning at a depth of 500 metres (yards) below the surface, Interfax said.

A fire was still blazing at the mine, Interfax said. Mittal Steel in London declined immediate comment but a company statement was due shortly.