ASTANA, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - At least four miners were killed and another three injured in a methane gas explosion early on Friday at the Abaiskaya mine in central Kazakhstan, a local Emergencies Ministry spokesman said.
There were 195 people in the mine when the blast went off at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. GMT). A hundred miners had been rescued as of 11:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT).
The exact death toll, injuries and the extent of damage to the mine has yet to be determined.
Kazakh Emergencies Minister Vladimir Bozhko has already left for the site of the explosion. Bozhko has also been placed in charge of a government commission set up to investigate the causes of the blast.
The Abaiskaya mine is owned by ArcelorMittal Temirtau, a subsidiary of the world's number one steel company, ArcelorMittal.
