Remembering the Abayskaya mine tragedy of January 11, 2008

Sunday, January 11 2009, marked the anniversary of the tragic accident which occurred at ArcelorMittal’s Abayskaya mine in Kazakhstan. It is important that we remember the 30 victims and the suffering of their families, friends and colleagues.

A memorial was erected for the 30 miners killed in the Abayskaya explosion. Yet another way our Group marks this anniversary is by taking stock of the Health and Safety improvements that have been made and by reaffirming our commitment from the highest level and throughout our entire Group.

David Vint, General Manager for Health and Safety Mining operations and currently present in Kazakhstan, attended the memorial service for the victims on the 11th.  “ArcelorMittal continues to work with the Government to improve and modernise the coal mines in Kazakhstan,” he said. “We remain committed to the H&S programme which is designed to eliminate these tragic incidents in our coal mining operations.”

ArcelorMittal Temirtau CEO Frank Pannier said: “During the last months, the Company had put into place a comprehensive investment programme to address some of the more urgent shortfalls related to Health and Safety conditions in the mines. This is comprised of not only supplies of state-of-the-art equipment for mining, but also ventilation technology and gas warning devices. It also provides funds for Health and Safety training and research. All these measures are part of a 5 year programme designed to give us the intended results – the likelihood of a reduction in tragic accidents. Our sympathy is with the families of those of our colleagues who suffered as a result of the tragic events of 2007 and 2008.”

Picture: Memorial erected for the 30 miners killed in the explosion in Abayskaya