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At least 82 people were killed after a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province, state media reported Saturday, marking one of the country’s deadliest industrial disasters in recent years.
The blast took place at 7:29 p.m. local time Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. A total of 247 workers were underground when the explosion occurred, and most were brought back to the surface by Saturday morning.
However, Xinhua later confirmed that at least 82 people had died, while rescuers were still searching “intensively” for nine workers who remained unaccounted for.
Footage released by state broadcaster CCTV showed helmeted rescuers carrying stretchers at the mine site, with ambulances waiting nearby as emergency operations continued.
Early state media reports had put the death toll at four, with dozens still trapped underground after carbon monoxide levels in the mine were found to have exceeded safety limits.
Some of those trapped underground were initially reported to be in critical condition, before the death toll climbed significantly as Saturday morning went on.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and urged authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the explosion, Xinhua reported.
He also said that “all regions and departments must draw lessons from this accident, remain constantly vigilant regarding workplace safety... and resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major and catastrophic accidents.”
Xinhua said a person responsible for the company involved in the blast had been placed under legal control, though no further details were given.
Shanxi is one of China’s poorer provinces, but it is also the country’s coal-mining heartland, making safety failures there especially significant for the wider energy sector.
China has improved mine safety over recent decades, yet deadly accidents still take place in an industry where safety protocols can be lax and regulations unclear.
In 2023, a collapse at an open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia killed 53 people, while an explosion at a mine in Heilongjiang province killed more than 100 people in 2009.
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