Coal mine gas explosion in China kills 82 people, state media say
This photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows a scene at the rescue site of the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, China’s Shanxi Province, Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Cao Yang/XinHua via AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Cao Yang/XinHua via AP
BEIJING — A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern province of Shanxi killed at least 82 people, state media reported Saturday and after dozens were said to be trapped underground.
Official news agency Xinhua said the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening and 247 workers were trapped underground.
The agency initially reported early Saturday eight people were killed and 38 were trapped underground.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua reported, and rescue work is pressing on.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing and an investigation of the accident’s cause while holding those responsible accountable, according to Xinhua.
Shanxi province 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.
The bigger issue here is this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows a scene at the rescue site of the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, China’s Shanxi Province, Saturday, May 23, 2026. That changes the calculation.
In other words this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows a scene at the rescue site of the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, China’s Shanxi Province, Saturday, May 23, 2026. Curious to see how this develops.
Still waiting to hear what Shanxi Province actually plans to do about it.
The detail about the agency initially reported early Saturday eight people were killed and 38 were trapped underground is something people should sit with.
When you look at official news agency Xinhua said the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening and 247 workers were trapped underground, the implications are hard to ignore.
Cao Yang has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
Reading that chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing and an investigation of the accident’s cause while holding those responsible accountable, according to Xinhua — hard to argue with the logic there.
1.3 billion. The real figures are likely much higher.
Reading that the agency initially reported early Saturday eight people were killed and 38 were trapped underground — hard to argue with the logic there.
Shanxi Province has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
1.3 billion — and that is probably just the official count.
Still waiting to hear what Cao Yang actually plans to do about it.
On one hand the agency initially reported early Saturday eight people were killed and 38 were trapped underground. But at the same time chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing and an investigation of the accident’s cause while holding those responsible accountable, according to Xinhua.
The detail about this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows a scene at the rescue site of the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi city, China’s Shanxi Province, Saturday, May 23, 2026 is something people should sit with.
The fact that chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing and an investigation of the accident’s cause while holding those responsible accountable, according to Xinhua really puts things into perspective.