Beijing —
A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 82 people, state media said, making it the country’s worst mining disaster in more than a decade.
Rescue efforts are still continuing almost a day after the explosion, with emergency teams descending on the Liushenyu mine to search for workers trapped underground, state broadcaster CCTV said.
According to CCTV, the explosion occurred about 300 meters underground. In the aftermath, the explosion site was reportedly filled with water and pieces of broken walls. Rescue teams are descending with water pipes and kayaks and approaching the scene.
But their efforts were complicated by the fact that underground maps provided by the mining company and distributed to rescue teams did not match the actual conditions underground, state Beijing News reported. This means rescue teams have to search all tunnels instead of targeting specific locations.
Underground workers are also required to carry personal GPS tracking devices, but some were not carrying them at the time of the explosion, Beijing News reported.
Nearly 250 people were working underground at the facility in Shanxi province when the explosion occurred Friday night. At least 201 people had been evacuated as of Saturday morning, CCTV said, adding that 123 people were being treated in hospital later in the day.
Authorities revised down the death toll originally announced in state media at 90, citing chaos at the scene. It is unclear whether any workers are still missing.
“The site was in chaos after the accident,” said the head of Qinyuan County, where the mine is located. “The company did not have a clear idea of the number of workers on site, and as a result, the initially reported numbers were inaccurate.”
At a press conference in Changzhi on Saturday night, Mayor Chen Xiaoyang said that according to a preliminary assessment, the coal mining companies involved had committed “serious legal violations.”
Zhang Wenbo, director of the city’s emergency management department, warned that there are further risks ahead.
“During rescue operations… toxic and harmful gases have exceeded the limit for a long period of time, and there is a risk of secondary disasters occurring,” Zhang said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping instructed Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing to attend the scene Saturday night, according to state media. Zhang is believed to be leading ongoing emergency response operations.
Mr. Xi called for a “thorough investigation” and “accountability” into the incident.
CCTV said cracking down on illegal mining activities, including tampering with safety surveillance, covert operations and unclear reporting of the number of people underground, is also seen as a priority for the country.
In response to an interview with CNN, a representative who answered the phone from the company that operates the mine, Shanxi Tongzhou Group Liushenyu Coal Industry, said, “We are not aware of the situation,” and hung up.
State media reported on Saturday that the heads of the “companies involved” had been subject to “administrative measures in accordance with the law.” This expression is usually used to indicate that something is constrained.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation, Xinhua News Agency said.
One of the injured miners, Wang Yong, told CCTV that he knew something was wrong when he saw explosive smoke and the smell of sulfur “just like firecrackers.”
“I told people to run. As I was running, I saw people lying down, suffocated by the smoke, and I also fainted,” Wang said. “Then I lay there for about an hour and then woke up… (and) then I woke up the people next to me and we left the mine together.”
The disaster is the latest in a series of devastating incidents linked to China’s coal mining and is believed to be the deadliest since a 2009 explosion at a state-run mine in Heilongjiang province that killed 108 people. In the early 2000s, several mining accidents occurred, resulting in over 100 deaths.
Since then, safety records have improved as the industry has consolidated and become more regulated, but tragedies still occur and subsequent calls for greater accountability and oversight from central governments are common.
In 2023, 53 workers were killed in a mine collapse in Inner Mongolia, state media reported. The following year, the Chinese government implemented new coal mining regulations, increasing the burden of inspections on operators and increasing oversight by local authorities.
Coal is China’s main energy source, accounting for more than half of the world’s second-largest economy’s energy consumption and playing an important role in energy security.
While promoting a green transition, the Chinese government has continued to expand coal infrastructure, ensuring grid stability for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Shanxi Province, where this incident occurred, is one of the country’s leading coal producing regions, accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s coal.
CNN’s Fred He contributed to this report.
