tkibuli_mine

(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–One man died in a mining accident in Western Georgia on Saturday. Early indications are that it was an accident.

The victim is Kote Bakhutashvili, who worked in the transport district in the Mindeli mine in Tkibuli, a mining town in the north of the Imereti region.

According to Tamaz Dolaberidze, head of the metallurgy, mining and chemical industry workers’ trade union, Bakhutashvili was caught between loaded carriages and the wall of tunnel.

He was found dead by other miners.

A commission has been created and given ten days to study what happened.

The body was taken to Kutaisi for autopsy.

During the last three years, 135 people have died on the job, while 587 have been injured, according to the Trade Union of Georgia. Last year alone, 41 workers died in the workplace, while 61 were injured.

The majority of deaths took place in work places which are more dangerous, like the mines in Chiatura, where ore is extracted, in Tkibuli, and in metallurgical plants elsewhere.