Shanxi Gas Blast Kills 82 In Deadliest China Coal Mine Disaster In Recent Years, Xi Jinping Orders ‘Thorough Investigation’

Changzhi: A powerful gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, located in northern Shanxi province, killed at least 82 people. The local officials confirmed the deadly incident on Saturday, which was China’s deadliest mining disaster in recent years. The blast occurred on Friday evening, triggering a large-scale rescue operation that stretched into the weekend.

According to the local media reports, confusion over casualty figures emerged in the hours after the accident, with state broadcaster CCTV initially reporting 90 deaths before the administration revised the toll down. The Chinese officials stated that the early numbers were provisional, given the tragic scene at the mine and the difficulty of accounting for workers underground.

Following the blast, President Xi Jinping has demanded an all-out rescue effort and accountability under the law, as the cops begin examining “serious violations” by the mine’s operator.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening. At a news conference on late Saturday, the local administration stated that 82 were dead and that over 120 people were hospitalised, with 2 still reported missing. The death toll was a revised, lower number from earlier reports by state broadcaster CCTV that said 90 had died.

The administration stated that the figures provided at the time were initial and not a definite number. Earlier on Saturday, Xinhua reported that rescue work was pressing on the 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.

One of the survivors, Wang Yong, who has been hospitalised, stated to the local media that he smelled sulfur “like firecrackers” and saw smoke. “I told people to run…..As I ran, I saw people being choked by the smoke. And then I blacked out,” he said.

‘Serious Violations’ And Mismatched Blueprints

The local officials stated that the explosion was under investigation, with the investigating team probing “serious violations” of the law by the mine’s operator. However, the officials did not elaborate on any specific violations. Xinhua later reported that those responsible for the company involved in the mine accident have been "placed under control,” citing the local emergency management bureau.

The state broadcaster also reported that, complicating rescue efforts, the blueprints provided by the coal mine did not match the actual layout, hampering rescue efforts. An investigation team sent by China’s powerful State Council, equivalent to the country’s Cabinet, would be conducting a “rigorous and uncompromising” probe into the deadly explosion, a separate Xinhua report said following Xi’s remarks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing, Xinhua reported. Xi also called for a “thorough investigation" and accountability in accordance with the law.

High-Gas Mine On National Watchlist

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 China’s National Mine Safety Administration in 2024 for having “high gas content".

Shanxi province is known as China’s main coal mining province, with an area 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 China’s 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.

In February 2023, 53 people were killed after a collapse at an open-pit mine in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region. In November 2009, an explosion at a mine in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province killed 108, according to state media.