At least 90 people have been killed and dozens are feared trapped underground after an explosion at a coal mine in China.
The accident, at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine in the northern province of Shanxi, is thought to be the country’s worst mining disaster in 16 years. It took place on Friday evening when there were around 250 workers underground at the time, state news agency Xinhua said.
Among the injured, many were said to have been hurt by toxic gas, and a number of those trapped underground were reportedly in a critical condition.
The death toll jumped 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 earlier on Saturday. Later, the death toll was revised to at least 90.
President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and called for thorough investigations into the incident.
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”.
Death toll has risen to 82 after a coal mine accident in Qinyuan County, north China's Shanxi Province. pic.twitter.com/o9CM6MewlX
Xinhua reported earlier that levels of carbon monoxide – a highly toxic, odourless gas – had exceeded limits at the mine, which is run by the Tongzhou Group.
Rescue efforts were ongoing, officials said. China's Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation and executives of the company responsible for the mine have reportedly been detained.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry expressed its condolences to China following the incident.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic explosion at the coal mine in Shanxi province of China, which resulted in the loss of many lives and injuries,” the ministry said.
Shanxi 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.
In the early 2000s, deadly accidents were common in China's coal mining industry. Safety standards have been tightened in recent years, but accidents still occur. In 2009, an explosion at a mine in Heilongjiang province in the northeast killed more than 100.
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