At least 90 killed in China's worst coalmine disaster in 17 years

At least 90 people have been killed in a gas explosion at a coalmine in northern China’s Shanxi province, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years.

The explosion happened on Friday at 7.29pm (12.29 BST) while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coalmine in Qinyuan county, the state media agency Xinhua reported.

The cause of the accident is yet to be confirmed, but according to Xinhua, local authorities were initially alerted after an underground carbon monoxide sensor in the mine – operated by the Tongzhou Group – was triggered. Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic, odourless gas.

One injured survivor, Wang Yong, recalled seeing a “puff of smoke”, smelling sulphur and seeing people choking before he lost consciousness.“I laid down for about an hour and woke up by myself. I called the people next to me and we got out of the mine together,” Wang told the state media broadcaster CCTV.

Xinhua initially reported that there had been eight fatalities, while some workers were stuck underground in a “critical condition”. The death toll began to rise quickly on Saturday morning.

At least 123 people, four in a critical or severe condition, were taken to hospital to receive treatment, according to CCTV. Thirty-three had returned home as of 2pm on Saturday.

Footage published by CCTV showed helmeted rescuers carrying stretchers at the site, with ambulances visible in the background. Rescue efforts are ongoing, with a total of 755 emergency and medical personnel dispatched to the site.

The mining disaster is the deadliest reported in China since 2009, when an explosion at a mine in north-eastern Heilongjiang province killed more than 100.

China has significantly reduced coalmine fatalities – often caused by gas explosions or flooding – since the early 2000s by imposing more stringent regulations and safer practices. But major accidents still occur, including in 2023, when a collapse at an open-pit coalmine in northern Inner Mongolia killed 53 people.

In 2020, 23 people were killed after being trapped in a mine with elevated levels of carbon monoxide in China’s south-western city of Chongqing.

Shanxi, one of China’s poorer provinces, is the centre of the country’s coalmining industry, contributing almost a third of its raw coal output.

The president, Xi Jinping, called for authorities to “spare no effort” in treating the injured and conducting search and rescue operations, while ordering an investigation into the cause of the accident and who was accountable.

Xi also “emphasised that all regions and departments must draw lessons from this accident, remain constantly vigilant regarding workplace safety … and resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major and catastrophic accidents”.

The premier, Li Qiang, echoed the instructions, calling for timely and accurate release of information and rigorous accountability.

According to Xinhua, authorities have already placed at least one person “responsible for” the company involved in the explosion “under control in accordance with the law”. The definitive cause of the accident is under investigation, according to Qinyuan’s local emergency management authority.

In 2024, the Liushenyu mine was one of 1,128 cited by China’s national mine safety administration for “severe safety hazards”, with the regulator specifically raising the alarm about the presence of high gas levels.

When publishing its findings, it called on provincial authorities to “urge severely disaster-prone coalmines to implement measures for regional disaster management”.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report