Horror China coal mine blast kills 82 people as others still trapped underground
A gas explosion at a coal mine in China has killed at least 82 people and left 38 miners trapped underground, according to state media reports on Saturday.
(Image: AFP)
A gas explosion at a coal mine in China has resulted in the deaths of at least 82 people, with some still trapped underground, according to state media reports on Saturday.
The blast took place on Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, located in the northern province of Shanxi, as per the official news agency Xinhua.
Initially, the death toll was reported as eight, but this figure has since escalated to over 80, as stated by China Xinhua News.
Around 247 workers were underground when the explosion occurred, with 201 successfully evacuated by early Saturday.
The cause of the explosion is currently under investigation, Xinhua reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on authorities to leave no stone unturned in their rescue efforts for those still missing. He also demanded a thorough investigation into the incident and insisted that those responsible be held accountable, Xinhua reported.
Shanxi province is widely recognised as the heartland of China’s coal mining industry. Larger than Greece in size and home to approximately 34 million people, the province’s hundreds of thousands of miners extracted 1.3 billion tons (1.17 billion metric tons) of coal last year, accounting for nearly a third of China’s total production.
