Minister of Emergency Situations Murat Mukhanov descended almost 700 meters underground during a working visit to the Karaganda region. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The head of the Emergency Ministry visited the Kostyenko mine and personally inspected how safety is organized at depth, the ministry's press service reported.
The minister's underground visit
The minister visited the minus 100 horizon. He inspected mining workings and equipment, and checked the operation of ventilation, communications and warning systems.
Before the descent, Mukhanov was presented with an accident elimination plan. The minister also familiarized himself with the procedure for workers' actions in emergency situations.
The Emergency Ministry noted that during the visit special attention was paid to personnel readiness and control over safe mining operations.
Mine data
The Kostyenko mine has been operating since 1942. Today about 1,100 people work here, and the total length of mining workings exceeds 60 kilometers.
The 2023 accident
Recall that in October 2023 an explosion occurred at the Kostyenko mine, as a result of which 46 miners died, and another 26 received severe and moderate injuries. At the time of the accident, 252 people were underground, of whom 206 were able to get to the surface on their own, and the remaining 46 died.
The mine belonged to ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC (AMT). Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized this company, calling it "the worst in history," and instructed to terminate investment cooperation with it. After that, AMT's investor changed. The new shareholder was Kazakhstani Andrey Lavrentyev, who owns Allur Auto. He renamed the company to Qarmet.
The case of the explosion at the Kostyenko mine was heard in court starting in March 2025. In August, 10 people received real prison terms.
74 people were recognized as victims. These are the relatives of the deceased and 28 surviving miners who suffered harm to their health.