Coal Mine Gas Blast in Northern China Kills at Least 90
Photo Courtesy: The Dawn
At least 90 people have been killed in an explosion at a coal mine in northern China.
Nine people are still missing in the incident, state media reported.
The state-run news agency Xinhua said the blast occurred Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi, located in Shanxi province. A total of 247 workers were initially reported to have been trapped below ground.
Early reports on Saturday said eight people had died and 38 were trapped, but the death toll later rose sharply as rescue operations continued.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, Xinhua said, adding that emergency rescue efforts are ongoing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to rescue those still missing and called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident, with accountability for those responsible, according to the report.
Shanxi is China’s main coal-producing province. Larger than Greece and home to about 34 million people, it employs hundreds of thousands of miners and produced around 1.3 billion tons of coal last year—nearly one-third of the country’s total output. (Multiple sources used)
