BEIJING (AP) 鈥� A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern Shanxi province killed at least 82 people, local officials said Saturday, in what was the country鈥檚 deadliest mining accident in recent years.
The official Xinhua 太子探花 Agency said the accident at Changzhi city鈥檚 Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening.
At a news conference late Saturday, local authorities said 82 were dead and that more than 120 people were hospitalized. Two were still missing. The death toll was a revised, lower number from earlier reports by state broadcaster CCTV that said 90 had died.
The scene at the coal mine was 鈥渃haotic鈥� in the immediate aftermath of the accident, they said, and figures provided at the time were initial and not definite.
The explosion was under investigation, local officials said, adding there were 鈥渟erious violations鈥� of the law by the mine鈥檚 operator. They did not elaborate on any specific violations.
Earlier on Saturday, Xinhua reported that rescue work was pressing on a day after the accident, with hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel sent to the site. Among the injured, many were hurt by toxic gas, according to CCTV.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing, Xinhua reported. Xi also called for a 鈥渢horough investigation” and accountability “in accordance with the law.鈥�
Xinhua later reported that those responsible for the company involved in the mine accident have been “placed under control,鈥� citing the local emergency management bureau.
An investigation team sent by 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 powerful State Council, equivalent to the country鈥檚 Cabinet, would be conducting a 鈥渞igorous and uncompromising鈥� probe into the deadly explosion, a separate Xinhua report said following Xi鈥檚 remarks.
Wang Yong, one of the hospitalized miners, told CCTV in a video interview that he smelled sulfur 鈥渓ike firecrackers鈥� and saw smoke.
鈥淚 told people to run,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s I ran, I saw people being choked by the smoke. And then I blacked out.鈥�
The state broadcaster also reported that blueprints provided by the coal mine did not match the actual layout, hampering rescue efforts.
The coal mine, operated by the Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons, was placed on a national list of disaster-prone coal mines by 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 National Mine Safety Administration in 2024 for having 鈥渉igh gas content.鈥�
Shanxi province is known as 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 main . With a size larger than Greece and a population of around 34 million, the province’s hundreds of thousands of miners dug 1.3 billion tons of coal last year, almost a third of 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 total.
In China, coal remains a key energy source due to its lower cost and high availability, even as the country accelerates its transition toward green energy. Mining disasters although authorities had implemented measures to improve safety over the past years.
In February 2023, 53 people were killed after a at an open-pit mine in northern 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 Inner Mongolia region. In November 2009, an explosion at a mine in northeastern 颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 Heilongjiang province killed 108, according to state media.
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