Rescuers in northern China looked for survivors Sunday after the country’s deadliest coal mine explosion in recent years killed at least 82 people.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed police and security guarding the entrance to the mining facility located in Qinyuan county in the city of Changzhi as emergency vehicles were on site.
Hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel were sent to help with rescue efforts, state media reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a thorough investigation and accountability of those responsible, after the deadly gas explosion happened Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in the province of Shanxi.
Two were missing and dozens of miners were hospitalized, local officials said late Saturday at a news conference. The death toll was revised down from 90, with officials blaming “chaotic” scenes in the aftermath and inaccurate information provided by the mine operator as the reason.
Some hospitalized miners recalled seeing smoke when the accident happened and blacking out, according to state media reports.
The coal mine has “seriously” violated the law, according to local officials, although they did not elaborate on the specific violations. China’s state broadcaster CCTV earlier reported that blueprints provided by the Liushenyu coal mine did not match the actual layout, which hampered rescue efforts.
The official Xinhua News Agency said those responsible for the company behind the mine accident had been “placed under control.”
Local authorities said following the accident that there would be a “comprehensive, blanket” inspection of the coal mining sector that would include checks of coal mines’ gas drainage, ventilation, safety monitoring systems and their underground layouts.
The inland Shanxi province, located southwest of China’s capital, Beijing, with a population of around 34 million, is China’s main coal-mining province where hundreds of thousands of miners work.
A broader inspection of coal mines could put pressure on the province’s ability to produce its annual capacity of around 1.3 billion tons of coal, which accounts for nearly a third of China’s total.
Coal remains a major energy source in China, given its high availability and low cost, even as the country accelerates its green energy transition. Mining accidents were common and authorities had implemented measures to help improve safety over the past years.
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Associated Press writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
