Shanxi Coal Mine Blast Kills 90, Leaving 9 Missing in China's Deadliest Mining Disaster in 10 Years
Updated
Updated · CNN · May 23
Shanxi Coal Mine Blast Kills 90, Leaving 9 Missing in China's Deadliest Mining Disaster in 10 Years
17 articles · Updated · CNN · May 23
90 miners are now confirmed dead after the gas explosion at Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi, up from earlier reports of 82, with nine still missing.
247 workers were underground when the blast struck around 7:30 p.m. Friday in Changzhi; at least 201 had been evacuated by early Saturday.
400 to 500 rescuers are working underground as investigators examine reports that carbon monoxide levels exceeded limits inside the mine.
Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search for the missing and a full investigation, while province-level officials went to the scene and company executives were earlier detained.
The disaster is China's deadliest mining accident in more than a decade, underscoring persistent safety risks in Shanxi, the province that produces more than a quarter of the country's coal.
If modern safety tech exists, why did a preventable gas explosion kill 82 miners in Shanxi?
China's new energy plan needs coal. Does this mean more fatal mining disasters are simply inevitable?