Three people died and one has been seriously injured in a methane and coal outburst on Monday at the Tentekskaya coalmine in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, which is operated by ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Kazakhs subsidiary of steel giant ArcelorMittal, the Emergency Situations Ministry of Kazakhstan has announced. Production at the mine has been halted but will likely restart by the end of the day.
In February 2008 Kazakhstan's government ordered ArcelorMittal to improve safety conditions or lose its mining license, after an explosion in January of the same year at the company's Abaiskaya mine killed 30 workers. In September 2006, ArcelorMittal Temirtau coal miners went on strike demanding improved safety after 41 miners were killed in a methane gas explosion at the company's Lenin mine.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau increased its investments for upgrading equipment at its coal mines to $150 million in 2008.