Devastating Shanxi coal mine explosion kills at least 82 Chinese workers

Coal mining remains a deadly business, even for China. A deadly explosion at a Shanxi coal mine has once again drawn attention to safety risks in China’s coal sector after a methane gas leak triggered what is being described as one of the country’s worst mining incidents in years, killing at least 82 workers and injuring hundreds more.

A methane gas leak triggered a massive explosion at a Chinese coal mine in Shanxi Province, killing at least 82 people and injuring hundreds more in what has been labelled the worst incident in China’s coal industry in a decade.

On Friday, the explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan County—located about 520 km southwest of Beijing—occurred shortly after the mine issued a carbon monoxide alert. The facility is known to have a high methane content; a combination of gas leakage and safety rule violations is suspected to have caused the blast.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that 247 workers were underground when the explosion occurred. The village surrounding the coal mine has been locked down, with residents forbidden from entering or leaving their homes, while hundreds of rescuers have been deployed to the site.

President Xi Jinping called on rescue teams to “make every effort” and stated that the aftermath of the accident must be “properly handled”. Premier Li Qiang told reporters that the accident must be investigated “as soon as possible.”

Underscoring the political severity of the disaster, Beijing has dispatched Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing to the scene to direct the emergency response work.

At the same time, reports indicate that executives from Shanxi Tongzhou Group Liushenyu Coal Industry, the company running the mine, have been detained. Last year, the company was hit with two administrative penalties for safety violations.

The scale of the disaster strongly suggests that an aggressive and widespread regulatory crackdown on safety standards across the Chinese coal mining industry will swiftly follow.

Source: Francesco Sassi via LinkedIn