In Kazakhmys Corporation LLP, the initial version about a rock collapse at the mine where seven workers died has been refuted.
According to the company’s press service, emergency rescue teams did not find any collapses in the shaft. The mine’s operations have been suspended pending the investigation.
“An analysis of the causes of the incident related to a natural gas release is underway. The company is actively cooperating with the government commission and investigative authorities and intends to make adjustments to its safety standards”, the statement said.
Also, Kazakhmys reported on compensation payments, the transportation of bodies, assistance with credit obligations, and employment support for the families of the deceased miners.
“The company’s management visited the families of the deceased to express their condolences. The company also covered the costs of transporting the bodies to various regions of Kazakhstan. At the request of relatives, the bodies of three miners were delivered to the Turkestan and Karaganda regions, and the rest to the cities of Zhezkazgan and Satpayev. Meetings with families will be organised shortly to discuss employment issues and improvements to living conditions”, the statement said.
At the same time, the families of the deceased have been allocated 550 MCI (2.2 million tenge) each for burial costs. They have been promised further payments of 10 times the annual salary, amounting to between 84 and 141 million tenge.
“At the same time, an assessment of the deceased miners’ debts to banks is underway. Letters have been sent to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan to clarify all debt obligations of the deceased and their close relatives. To date, loans and mortgages totalling 47.5 million tenge have been identified at Bank RBK, Kaspi, and Halyk Bank. Work is underway to repay them”, the company concluded.
It should be recalled that initially, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported that at the ‘Zhomart’ mine of Kazakhmys Corporation LLP in the Zhanaarka district of the Ulytau region, where seven mine workers died, a rock collapse had occurred.