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Kazakh Bus Driver Kills Himself After Job Dispute


ATYRAU, Kazakhstan -- A bus driver employed by a Kazakh oil company who commited suicide after a work dispute has been buried, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Amangeldy Suleimenov, who worked at the ESS Support Services Company in the western Kazakh city of Tengiz, was found hanged on March 7.

His friends and colleagues told RFE/RL on March 9 that Suleimenov committed suicide immediately after speaking with his supervisors.

His colleagues, who asked that their names not be published, said the managers had asked Suleimenov to quit his job. His bosses reportedly said the company no longer trusted Suleimenov because he allegedly tried to conceal an accident he had with his bus earlier this month.

The ESS Support Services chief manager, Ron Kulkarni, sent a statement to RFE/RL regarding the incident, saying that the company's "former employee Amangeldy Suleimenov, who quit his job on his own volition, committed suicide on March 7. We express our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. At this very difficult time, we consider inappropriate any further discussions of the tragedy."

Some 400 drivers from ESS Support Services have held several strikes in recent months to demand better salaries and benefits equal to the company's international employees.

Read more in Kazakh here
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