Mining company denies reports of technical malfunction, land collapse after miner’s death
19 miners were killed and 16 were injured in 2018-2019 in Georgia. Photo: Georgianjournal.ge.
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Georgian Manganese Company has released a preliminary conclusion for the tragic incident that occurred at Darkveti mine in the western Georgian region of Chiatura yesterday, saying that the fatality “was not caused due to technical malfunction, a land collapse or any other accident at the scene”.
Miner Gaga Botchorishvili, 26, died at the Darkveti mine at around 10 p.m. yesterday.
It is noteworthy that the mine was inspected for technical safety two months ago by Technical and Construction Supervision Agency. The agency found that the mine meets safety standards and working conditions”, declares Georgian Manganese Company.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating the incident.
Georgian Manganese expresses its deep condolences to the family members and relatives of Gaga Botchorishvili.
In its recent report “No Year without Deaths: A Decade of Deregulation Puts Georgian Miners at Risk”, international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch says that the safety of workers in Georgian mines are at serious risk.
The 60-page study published in late August says that the risk is caused by “insufficient government regulation and resulting mining practices that prioritises production quotas and puts workers safety in jeopardy”.
Georgian Manganese Company, the largest manganese producer operates 11 mines as well as a processing plant and has about 3,500 workers.
Georgian Trade Unions Confederation reports that 19 miners were killed and 16 were injured in 2018-2019 in Georgia.
A mine worker has died in the western Georgian region of Chiatura today. The tragic accident happened at the Darkveti mine at around 10 pm, claiming the life of Gaga Botchorishvili, 26.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that investors and employers must fully meet their financial obligations and ensure appropriate working conditions for their personnel, in a response to an ongoing miners’ protest in Georgia’s Tkibuli municipality, where workers are demanding salaries and a decision on the reopening of two mines.
A miner died last night during underground works in Shukruti mine in the village of Chiatura - a city in the western Georgian region of Imereti.
Two miners have died at an open extraction coal quarry in Tkibuli town this morning. The bodies are already being examined to identify the circumstances of death.
The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC) has released the results of their latest labor safety monitoring, which indicates that there were 71 injuries and 25 killed in industrial accidents in January-June of 2019.
Locals of the Georgian village of Shukruti in the western Georgian region of Imereti, who demand Georgian Manganese compensate them for the damages, have gathered in front of the United States Embassy in Tbilisi to ‘make their voices heard’.
Georgian Manganese and locals in the village of Shukruti in western Georgia have reached an agreement on compensation for damage inflicted on their homes due to mining activity in the area. Georgian Manganese exports ferroalloys and manganese ore from mines near the village.