At least 82 killed after massive gas explosion rips through coal mine in China
A devastating gas explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China late Friday, killing at least 82 people and leaving more than 120 others hospitalized, with two miners still unaccounted for as rescue efforts stretched into a fourth day.
The blast ripped through the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan County, Shanxi province, marking the deadliest mining disaster to strike the country in years. State broadcaster CCTV reported that thick smoke engulfed the mine after the explosion, suffocating many victims underground. One miner lost consciousness at the scene, and numerous others suffered toxic gas exposure.
Chinese President Xi Jinping issued orders for a full-scale rescue operation and demanded a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Xinhua later reported that company officials connected to the mine had been "placed under control" by authorities.
Local officials launched an immediate probe and announced they had uncovered "serious violations" by the mine's operator, Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group. The full scope of those violations was not immediately clear, but investigators faced an additional complication: state media reported that blueprints provided by the mine did not match the site's actual layout, hindering rescue teams working to locate the missing miners.
In 2024, China's National Mine Safety Administration had previously classified the Liushenyu mine as disaster-prone because of its "high gas content," raising questions about why those warnings did not prevent Friday's tragedy.
The explosion sent shockwaves through China's coal industry, prompting a wave of heightened safety inspections across the sector. Industry analysts said the tightening of the supply outlook helped send coking coal prices soaring on Monday.
The disaster adds to a grim history of mining tragedies in China. In 2023, at least 53 people were killed in Inner Mongolia following a collapse at an open-pit mine. And in 2009, a reported explosion at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province left 108 people dead. Despite repeated pledges from Beijing to strengthen oversight of the mining sector, deadly accidents have continued to occur.
Rescue operations at Liushenyu were ongoing, with hopes fading for the two miners still missing deep inside the damaged mine.