BEIJING, May 23 — The death toll from a devastating gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province has risen sharply to 90, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday.
BEIJING, May 23** — The death toll from a devastating gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province has risen sharply to 90, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday.
The blast occurred late Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, where 247 miners were working underground at the time, according to an earlier report by state news agency Xinhua.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged authorities to "spare no effort" in rescuing trapped workers and treating the injured. He also demanded a comprehensive investigation into the disaster's cause, insisting that those responsible be held strictly accountable under the law. Premier Li Qiang mirrored these directives, emphasizing the need for transparent, accurate information sharing alongside rigorous accountability.
Local emergency management officials in Qinyuan confirmed that search-and-rescue teams are still active on-site while the investigation into the blast continues.
While China has successfully lowered coal mine fatalities over the last two decades through tighter safety regulations and modern practices, the Liushenyu explosion marks one of the country's deadliest mining disasters in the past ten years.
Company executives overseeing the mine have already been detained, Xinhua reported.
An earlier update by Xinhua had placed the death toll at just eight, noting that over 200 people had been successfully evacuated to the surface. The state media outlet did not provide an explanation for the sudden surge in casualties. — Reuters
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