A gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province killed at least 90 people on Friday evening, state media reported on Saturday, marking the country’s deadliest mining accident in recent years.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the blast occurred at the mine in Changzhi city, where around 247 workers were on duty at the time. Nine miners remained unaccounted for as of Saturday afternoon, and more than 120 people were hospitalized, according to the agency.
Rescue operations continued with hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel at the site. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, Xinhua reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing miners and urged a thorough investigation into the cause, with accountability pursued in accordance with the law, the news agency said.
Those responsible for the company involved in the mine accident have been placed under control, Xinhua later reported, citing the local emergency management bureau. An investigation team sent by China’s State Council is set to conduct a rigorous probe into the incident.
Wang Yong, one of the hospitalized miners, told state broadcaster CCTV that he smelled sulfur like firecrackers and saw smoke. “I told people to run,” he said. “As I ran, I saw people being choked by the smoke. And then I blacked out.”
Many of the injured were hurt by toxic gas, according to CCTV. The state broadcaster also reported that blueprints provided by the coal mine did not match the actual layout, which hampered rescue efforts.
The mine, operated by the Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons. It was placed on a national list of disaster-prone coal mines by China’s National Mine Safety Administration in 2024 due to its high gas content.
Shanxi province, known as China’s main coal mining region, produced 1.3 billion tons of coal last year, nearly a third of the country’s total. The province has a population of around 34 million and covers an area larger than Greece.
Coal remains a key energy source in China because of its lower cost and high availability, even as the country moves toward green energy. Mining disasters have occurred despite safety improvements in recent years.
In February 2023, a collapse at an open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia killed 53 people. In November 2009, an explosion at a mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108, according to state media reports at the time.
Officials said the Liushenyu mine was among those flagged for safety concerns prior to the latest incident. Rescue work is ongoing as authorities continue to search for the missing miners.