Chinese President Xi Jinping called for authorities to “spare no effort” in treating the injured and conducting search and rescue operations
A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 90 people, state media reported on Saturday, the country’s biggest mining disaster in 17 years.
A total of 247 workers were underground at the time of the blast, which occurred at 7:29 pm (11:29 GMT) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, according to state news agency Xinhua.
A total of 345 emergency personnel were dispatched to the site, with rescuers earlier searching “intensively” for nine people who remained unaccounted for, the news agency added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for authorities to “spare no effort” in treating the injured and conducting search and rescue operations, while ordering a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and strict accountability in accordance with the law, according to Xinhua.
Premier Li Qiang echoed the instructions, calling for timely and accurate release of information and rigorous accountability.
Rescue operations were ongoing and the cause of the accident was under investigation, according to the local emergency management authority in Qinyuan.
China has significantly reduced coal mine fatalities — often caused by gas explosions or flooding — since the early 2000s through more stringent regulations and safer practices. The Liushenyu incident, though, was one of the deadliest reported in China in the past decade.
Executives of the company responsible for the mine have been detained, Xinhua reported.
Earlier Xinhua had reported only eight dead, with more than 200 people safely brought to the surface. It did not explain the jump in the death toll.
