At least 82 people have been confirmed dead so far, and dozens are feared trapped underground after an explosion occurred at a coal mine in northern China, state media reported.
The accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine in the province of Shanxi happened on Friday evening, according to official news agency Xinhua, which reported that around 247 workers were underground at the time.
The death toll jumped up sharply after initial reports that dozens of people were rescued.
“Reporters learnt from the scene of the gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine… that the accident has resulted in 82 deaths and nine people missing,” state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday.
President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and called for thorough investigations into the incident, state news agency Xinhua said.
He “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”.
Premier Li Qiang echoed the instructions, calling for the timely and accurate release of information and rigorous accountability.
Xinhua reported earlier that levels of carbon monoxide – a highly toxic, odourless gas – had “exceeded limits” at the mine.
Rescue efforts were ongoing, officials said.
Some of those trapped underground were in “critical condition”, the earlier report said.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, state media reported. Executives of the company responsible for the mine have reportedly been detained.
Shanxi province is known as China’s main coal mining province. With a size larger than Greece and a population of around 34 million, the province’s hundreds of thousands of miners dug 1.3 billion tons (1.17 billion metric tons) of coal last year, or almost a third of China’s total.
