At least 90 dead in a coal mine accident in China

BarcelonaAt least 90 people died this Friday in a gas explosion that occurred this Friday at the Liushenyu mine, in Shanxi province, in central China. The accident occurred at 7:29 p.m. local time this Friday (12:29 p.m. in Catalonia) at this mining operation, where 247 people were working at the time of the incident and where rescue efforts continue, according to the official Chinese agency Xinhua.

The death toll has been increasing over the hours: in a first report released this Saturday morning, authorities had reported 8 deaths, 201 people evacuated alive and 38 trapped underground, before raising the number of fatalities first to "more than 50" and then to 82, until the figure rose to 90.

Authorities have not detailed, for now, the specific circumstances under which the explosion occurred or the condition of the people who remain unaccounted for, although they have indicated that rescue efforts are ongoing. In parallel, Xinhua has reported that a person responsible for the company that owns the mine had been "under the control of the authorities," in a move that points to the beginning of the investigation of possible responsibilities for the incident.

After the accident became public, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for intensifying search efforts, attending to the injured, investigating the causes of the event and demanding accountability. Vice Prime Minister Zhang Guoqing traveled to the site to oversee rescue efforts and post-accident management.

Coal mines, the material with which China generates about 60% of its energy, continue to register a high accident rate, although in recent years the number of fatal accidents has been significantly reduced. The Chinese mining sector registered more than 3,000 deaths between 2018 and 2023, a figure that nevertheless represented a decrease of 53.6% compared to the previous five-year period, according to official data.