Authorities in northern China are investigating a coal mine operator, with a deal with safety lapses, as rescuers seek for those missing within the country’s deadliest coal mine explosion lately that killed not less than 82 people.
Rescue officials revised the death toll in an update late Saturday night after having earlier said not less than 90 people had died.
Officials blamed “chaotic” scenes within the aftermath and inaccurate information provided by the mine operator for the revised death toll.
Officials said not less than 82 people were killed, greater than 120 others were hospitalized and two were reported missing after the huge gas explosion Friday evening ripped through the Liushenyu coal mine within the northern province of Shanxi, in line with The Associated Press.
Lots of of emergency responders and medical personnel were sent to assist with rescue efforts and rescuers were taking turns happening 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.
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The robots were operated by rescue staff who used them to enter unreachable areas to detect signs of life and collect data, in line with the outlet.
Chinese President Xi Jinping “stressed the necessity to make every effort to treat the injured, organize search and rescue operations scientifically and properly handle the aftermath,” the Recent York Times reported.
He has also called for a radical investigation and accountability for those responsible.
The explanation for the explosion was under investigation, the Associated Press reported, and rescue work is pressing on, with tons of of rescuers and medical personnel sent to the positioning. Among the many injured, many were hurt by toxic gas.
Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, the corporate involved within 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 didn’t match the actual layout, which hampered rescue efforts.
Local authorities also announced a “comprehensive, blanket” inspection of the coal mining sector that may include checks of coal mines’ gas drainage, ventilation, safety monitoring systems and underground layouts, in line with the Associated Press.
In 2024, Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group was listed amongst 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 top 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 press release when it released the list.
Friday’s explosion appears to be the country’s deadliest mining accident lately.
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, in line with state media.
— with files from The Associated Press
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