Four miners killed in Sary-Bulak rockfall

SARY-BULAK — Four miners were killed on Tuesday night when a rockfall brought down part of a working on a lower level of Shaft No. 2 at the Sary-Bulak Antimony Works, the company said yesterday.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of the four men yesterday morning, after clearing fallen rock through the night. Two other miners on the same shift were brought to the surface with minor injuries and treated at the polyclinic in the workers' settlement. The company said the names of the dead would not be released until all their families had been informed.

Production in Shaft No. 2, the "Severny" shaft sunk in the 1970s, has been halted while state mining inspectors examine the site. Work continues in Shaft No. 1 and in the Central incline. A company spokesman said it was too early to say what had caused the fall, and that the works would "cooperate fully with the inspectorate".

The works, the largest employer in Sary-Bulak District with about 2,300 staff, are the mining arm of the Iradi Antimony and Rare Metals Combine. In the settlement beside the mine, known locally as Rudnik, residents gathered outside the mine office yesterday as news of the deaths spread. A memorial service will be held at the settlement's Syro-Iradi parish church.