Eighty-two people were killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China, officials said, revising an earlier death toll of 90 after confusion in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
The explosion struck the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, Shanxi province, late on Friday, while 247 workers were underground. Authorities said two people remain missing, 128 were hospitalised with injuries and 35 escaped unharmed.
Officials said the initial death toll reported by state media had been incorrect because of chaos at the scene and unclear records of the number of workers underground.
"After the incident the scene was chaotic, the company's count of the number of workers was not clear, which led to the initial inaccurate number," Guo Xiaofang, the head of Qinyuan county, told a news conference.
Even with the revised toll, the blast is China's deadliest mining accident since 2009, when a gas explosion at the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108 people.
Authorities have shut all four mines owned by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal and Coking Group and detained company executives pending an investigation.
President Xi Jinping ordered authorities to "spare no effort" in treating the injured and carrying out rescue operations, state news agency Xinhua reported.
State-run newspaper the People's Daily on Sunday called for greater attention to workplace safety and urged officials to "completely reverse the tendency to prioritise development over safety".
Shanxi is China's coal-mining heartland, and coal remains central to the country's energy mix despite rapid renewable energy growth.
The Liushenyu mine has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes, while China produced 4.83 billion tonnes of coal last year, according to government officials.
Deadliest coal accidents in China
The gas explosion on Friday is now China's deadliest coal mine disaster since 2009.
- In 1950, a mine accident at the Yiluo Mine in Henan province killed at least 174 people.
- In 1960, a methane explosion at the Laobaidong Coal Mine in Shanxi province killed 684 people.
- In 1991, a gas explosion at the Sanjiao River coal mine in Shanxi province killed 147 people.
- In 2000, a gas explosion at the Muchonggou Coal Mine in Guizhou province killed 162 people.
- In 2004, a gas explosion at the Daping Coal Mine in Xinmi, Henan province, killed 148 people. In the same year, a gas explosion at the Chenjiashan Coal Mine in Tongchuan, Shaanxi province, killed 166 people.
- In 2005, a gas explosion at the Sunjiawan colliery of state-owned Fuxin Coal Industry Group in Liaoning province killed 214 people. A flood at the Daxing Mine in Guangdong province killed 123 people that year. Another explosion in 2005 at the Dongfeng Coal Mine in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province, killed around 170 people.
- In 2007, heavy rains flooded two mines in Shandong province, killing 181 people.
- In 2009, a gas explosion at the Xinxing Mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108 people.
– With input from Reuters and Bloomberg
