Death toll rises to 45 in ArcelorMittal Kazakh coal mine fire

Relatives of miners gather at the Kostenko coal mine operated by ArcelorMittal Temirtau during a power outage, as a rescue operation continues following a mine fire, in Karaganda, Kazakhstan October 28, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

ALMATY (Reuters) -The death toll from a fire at a coal mine in Kazakhstan owned by ArcelorMittal rose to 45 on Sunday, with emergency teams engaged in an operation to find one remaining miner believed to have been underground, emergency service officials were quoted as saying.

On Saturday, operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been evacuated after what appeared to be a methane blast.