The death toll in fire at the mine belonging to steel giant ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan has risen to 32, while the number of miners injured stands at 18, said local officials, as reported by news agency AFP. There were 252 miners present at the time of the incident out of which 205 of them were brought to the surface.
"A fire broke out at the Kostenko mine, resulting in the deaths of 11 people, while 18 victims with various degrees of injury were taken to hospital," read the statement released by the regional authorities.
"Of the 252 miners present at the time of the tragedy, 205 miners were brought to the surface," the statement added.
The mine is located near the town of Karaganda, an industrial region in central Kazakhstan.
It is the second fatal incident at an ArcelorMittal mine in Kazakhstan in the last two months. In the earlier incident in August, five miners were killed in an accident at one of the group's Kazakh mines, reported the AFP.
(More details awaited. Please refresh the page for updates)