Authorities investigate after China coal mine explosion kills at least 82 – National

Authorities in northern China are investigating a coal mine operator, with a focus on safety lapses, as rescuers search for those missing in the country’s deadliest coal mine explosion in recent years that killed at least 82 people.

Rescue officials revised the death toll in an update late Saturday night after having earlier said at least 90 people had died.

Officials blamed “chaotic” scenes in the aftermath and inaccurate information provided by the mine operator for the revised death toll.

Officials said at least 82 people were killed, more than 120 others were hospitalized and two were reported missing after the massive gas explosion Friday evening ripped through the Liushenyu coal mine in the northern province of Shanxi, according to The Associated Press.

Hundreds of emergency responders and medical personnel were sent to help with rescue efforts and rescuers were taking turns going down the mine shaft, facing hurdles including flooded tunnels, the Associated Press reports.

Early Sunday morning, rescuers deployed mine inspection robots underground, equipped with gas sensors and infrared cameras, the BBC reports.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.

The robots were operated by rescue workers who used them to enter unreachable areas to detect signs of life and collect data, according to the outlet.

Chinese President Xi Jinping “stressed the need to make every effort to treat the injured, organize search and rescue operations scientifically and properly handle the aftermath,” the New York Times reported.

He has also called for a thorough investigation and accountability for those responsible.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the Associated Press reported, and rescue work is pressing on, with hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel sent to the site. Among the injured, many were hurt by toxic gas.

Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, the company involved in the coal mine explosion, was found to have made “serious violations of laws,” according to local news outlets.

The Associated Press reported that blueprints provided by the Liushenyu coal mine did not match the actual layout, which hampered rescue efforts.

Local authorities also announced a “comprehensive, blanket” inspection of the coal mining sector that would include checks of coal mines’ gas drainage, ventilation, safety monitoring systems and underground layouts, according to the Associated Press.

In 2024, Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group was listed among 1,128 mines that had been previously cited for “severe safety hazards” by China’s National Mine Safety Administration.

The Liushenyu coal mine, where Friday’s explosion took place, was also cited for high gas levels in 2024.

“Provincial-level mine safety supervision departments must urge severely disaster-prone coal mines to implement measures for regional disaster management,” the National Mine Safety Administration said in a statement when it released the list.

Friday’s explosion appears to be the country’s deadliest mining accident in recent years.

In February 2023, 53 people were killed after a collapse at an open-pit mine in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region. In November 2009, an explosion at a mine in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province killed 108, according to state media.

— with files from The Associated Press

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.