Up to seven miners died on Friday in central Kazakhstan in a blast which ripped through a coal mine owned by steel giant Arcelor Mittal, Reuters quoted Russian news agencies as reporting. A duty official at the Abaiskaya mine told Interfax news agency seven bodies had been recovered so far. But RIA news agency quoted a local Emergencies Ministry spokesman as saying four miners had died. The Emergencies Ministry said a total of 195 miners had been working underground when the explosion shattered the mine at around 0930 local time (0303 GMT). By 1100 (0500 GMT), 100 workers had been evacuated, it said.