At least 90 dead and others missing after Chinese coal mine explodes

Some 90 people have been confirmed dead following a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China.

More than 240 workers were on duty underground at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi province when the explosion occurred at around 7.30pm on Friday.

President Xi Jinping called on authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescuing survivors and treating those injured by the blast.

The cause of the incident in Qinyuan county is currently under investigation, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported.

As part of a probe, executives from the Shanxi Tongzhou Group responsible for managing the facility have been arrested.

Six national emergency mine rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.

At least four workers had died due to high levels of carbon monoxide in the mines.

Nearly 40 people remained trapped underground as of 7am local time, local news sources reported.

A total of 123 people are currently recovering in hospital after being pulled from the wreckage, including four in a critical or serious condition.

Another nine people were still reported as missing as of 2pm.

Coal mine explosions in China are often caused by flooding, although regulations introduced since the early 2000s have reduced the number of fatalities from incidents.

The latest blast is one of deadliest reported in recent years.

Coal accounts for more than half of China’s energy consumption. A quarter of the resource is mined in Shanxi province.

The Liushenyu facility was one of more than 1,000 coal mines listed in a report as having ‘severe safety hazards’ in 2024.

Premier Li Qiang called for information to be released in a ‘timely and accurate manner’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.