Chinese coal mine explosion death toll jumps to 90 as Xi Jinping urges authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in hunt for survivors

The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern Shanxi province has risen to 90, state media CCTV reported on Saturday.

The gas explosion occurred late Friday while 247 workers were working underground at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, state media Xinhua reported earlier in the day.

According to Xinhua, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered a thorough investigation of the cause of the accident and strict accountability in accordance with the law, while urging authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in treating the injured and conducting search and rescue operations.

Premier Li Qiang reiterated the instructions, calling for timely and accurate disclosure of information and strict accountability.

According to the local emergency management authority in Qinyuan, rescue operations were ongoing and the cause of the accident was being investigated.

Since the early 2000s, China has significantly reduced coal mine deaths, often caused by gas explosions or floods, through tighter regulations and safer practices.

However, the Liushenyu incident was one of the deadliest reported in China in the past decade.

Xinhua reported that executives of the company responsible for the mine were detained.

Previously, Xinhua had reported that only eight people had died and more than 200 had been brought safely to the surface. This did not explain the increase in the death toll.

Shanxi, one of China’s poor provinces, is the coal mining capital of the country.

Mine safety in the country has improved in recent years, but accidents still occur in an industry where safety protocols are often lax and regulations unclear.

In 2023, 53 people died in a collapse in an open-pit coal mine in the northern Inner Mongolia region.

And in 2009, an explosion at a mine in northeastern Heilongjiang province killed more than 100 people.

China is the world’s largest coal consumer and largest emitter of greenhouse gases, despite building renewable energy capacity at a record pace.

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