China coal mine blast kills at least 90; others missing
State news agency Xinhua said 247 workers were underground when the explosion struck at 7:29 pm (12.29pm Irish time) at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province.
A deadly gas blast tore through a coal mine in northern China on Friday, killing at least 90 people in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years, according to state media.
State news agency Xinhua said 247 workers were underground when the explosion struck at 7:29 pm (12.29pm Irish time) at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province.
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By this morning, most had been brought to the surface, Xinhua reported, confirming that at least 90 people were dead.
The agency said 345 emergency personnel were sent to the scene, where rescuers had earlier been searching “intensively” for nine people still missing.
Gas ‘exceeded limits’
Video carried by state broadcaster CCTV showed helmeted rescue workers moving stretchers at the site, while ambulances stood in the background.
President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and ordered a full investigation into the explosion, Xinhua said.
He “emphasised 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 also reported that a person “responsible for” the company linked to the blast had been “placed under control in accordance with the law”.
State media had first reported four deaths and dozens trapped after carbon monoxide levels in the mine — a highly toxic, odourless gas — were found to have “exceeded limits”.
That earlier report said some of those trapped underground were in “critical condition”.
As the morning progressed, the confirmed death toll rose steeply.
Lax safety protocols
Shanxi, among China’s poorer provinces, sits at the heart of the country’s coal-mining industry.
Safety conditions in China’s mines have improved over recent decades, but deadly accidents still happen in a sector where safety rules are often loosely enforced and regulations can be unclear.
In 2023, 53 people were killed when an open-pit coal mine collapsed in the northern region of Inner Mongolia.
China remains the world’s largest coal consumer and its biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, even as it installs renewable energy capacity at a record pace.
