ALMATY (Reuters) -At&nbsp;least&nbsp;32&nbsp;people have died and&nbsp;14&nbsp;remain&nbsp;missing&nbsp;after&nbsp;a&nbsp;mine&nbsp;fire&nbsp;in&nbsp;Kazakhstan, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Saturday.
Operator&nbsp;ArcelorMittal&nbsp;Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker&nbsp;ArcelorMittal, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko&nbsp;mine&nbsp;had been evacuated&nbsp;after&nbsp;what appeared to be a methane blast.
It said 18 people had sought medical attention.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who expressed condolences to the victims' families and declared a national day of mourning on Oct. 29, ordered his cabinet to stop investment cooperation with&nbsp;ArcelorMittal&nbsp;Temirtau.
The company said it had suspended operation of coal unit&nbsp;mines for 24 hours for gas protection checks.The government and company also confirmed they were working to finalise a deal to nationalise the company, which operates the country's biggest steel mill.
"ArcelorMittal&nbsp;can also confirm, as communicated earlier today by the government of&nbsp;Kazakhstan, that the two parties have been in discussions concerning the future of&nbsp;ArcelorMittal&nbsp;Temirtau and recently signed a preliminary agreement for a transaction that will transfer ownership to the Republic of&nbsp;Kazakhstan," the&nbsp;miner said.
"ArcelorMittal&nbsp;is committed to completing this transaction as soon as possible in order to minimise disruption to the greatest extent possible."
Last month First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar told reporters that&nbsp;Kazakhstan&nbsp;was in talks with potential investors who could take over the mill.
He said the cabinet was unhappy with&nbsp;ArcelorMittal's failure to meet its investment obligations, upgrade equipment and ensure worker safety&nbsp;after&nbsp;a series of&nbsp;deadly accidents.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by William Mallard and Jason Neely)

you might like

At least 32 dead, 14 missing after ArcelorMittal mine fire in Kazakhstan