At least 90 dead after China coal mine gas blast
The disaster is the deadliest in China since 2009, when 108 people were killed in a mine blast in Heilongjiang province.
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The disaster is the deadliest in China since 2009, when 108 people were killed in a mine blast in Heilongjiang province.
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BEIJING (AFP) — A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 90 people, state media said Saturday, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years.
A total of 247 workers were underground when the blast hit at 7:29 p.m. Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, according to Xinhua. Most were brought to the surface by Saturday morning, but at least 90 were confirmed dead.
Authorities deployed 345 emergency personnel to the site, with rescuers searching “intensively” for nine people still unaccounted for, Xinhua said.
State media initially reported four deaths and dozens trapped after carbon monoxide levels in the mine were found to have “exceeded limits,” with some miners in “critical condition,” before the toll rose sharply.
President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and ordered investigations, saying authorities must “draw lessons from this accident, remain constantly vigilant regarding workplace safety... and resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major and catastrophic accidents.”
A company official has been “placed under control in accordance with the law,” Xinhua said.
The disaster is the deadliest in China since 2009, when 108 people were killed in a mine blast in Heilongjiang province.
Mine safety has improved in recent decades, but accidents remain frequent in China’s coal sector, particularly in regions such as Inner Mongolia.
