Rescue crews are working 24 hours a day in Shanxi Province after a gas blast tore through the Liushenyu coal mine killing 90 people and leaving nine missing.
The catastrophe happened Friday night with 247 people underneath. Carbon monoxide levels surged over acceptable levels, locking many deep inside the 30-degree slope of the mine, officials said.
Crews were hauling supplies in and out in mine cars. “We will do everything possible as long as there is hope,” one rescuer told Xinhua.
President Xi Jinping has instructed a full rescue and treatment of the injured and a thorough inquiry with accountability under the law. He told officials around the country to improve worker safety and eliminate potential hazards.
Of those rescued alive, 123 are being treated in hospital. Two are in critical condition and two are in serious condition.
The mine, owned by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, had been identified in 2024 by China’s National Mine Safety Administration as having a significant gas content. The company’s executives have been detained in the course of the investigation.
It is China’s deadliest tragedy since 2005, when 214 people were killed in a gas explosion at the Sunjiawan coal mine in Liaoning province.
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