Buried alive: Six months later, body of Maikainzoloto rescuer found at a depth of 70 meters
A body of the rescuer, who was inside the bus which fell into a stope in the territory of JSC Maikainzoloto in Pavlodar region in early 2024, was found at a depth of 70 meters, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Rescuers of the regional emergency authorities arrived at the site and lifted the man’s body to the surface together with the Republican Central Headquarters of the Militarized Emergency Rescue Service.
The body was found on July 19, during the excavation works at a depth of 70 meters, at the site of soil collapse, local akimat said.
As reported, the tragedy occurred on the night of January 4, when a bus carrying three mine rescuers fell through ground into a stope of a non-operational mine in the territory of JSC Maikainzoloto. The bodies of two people – Sarkyt Berlikan, born 1999, and 53-year-old Oleg Tyshkevich, were found immediately. Two more remained under the rubble.
"Due to the threat of collapse of the side walls of the pit, the search work was suspended. Later the operation resumed by JSC Maikainzoloto with extreme caution and in compliance with all safety measures. Specialists from Altynalmas JSC were invited to scan and determine the exact location of the bus. The location of the bus was determined at a depth of 12 meters,” the akimat explained.
The man is being identified. By preliminary data, this is 36-year-old Aidos Shaimerden.
JSC Maikainzoloto is a leading company in Central Kazakhstan specializing in extraction and processing of gold-bearing polymetallic ores. Founded in 1932, the company has been operating numerous small, medium and large deposits, including Small Maikain, Maikain A, B, C, D, E, F, Novoye, Naizatas, Zhussaly, Zhilandy, Nauruzbay etc.
Throughout its operation period, the company has extracted 16.7 million tons of ore, which contained 80 tons of gold, 1,240 tons of silver, 204 tons of copper, and 300 tons of zinc. More than 13 million tons of extracted ore was processed at the country’s ore-dressing plants, while the remain ore was shipped as gold-containing flux raw materials to the metallurgical plants of Ural and Kazakhstan.
