At least 90 miners were killed after a massive gas explosion ripped through the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province.
Marking China’s deadliest mining disaster in more than a decade.
Nearly 250 workers were reportedly underground when the blast struck on Friday evening.
Triggering panic, toxic fumes, and a desperate race for survival. Some miners made it out. Many did not.
“I smelled sulphur… people were collapsing from the fumes,” survivor Wang Yong recalled. “Then I blacked out too.”
He later regained consciousness and escaped alongside another worker.
Rescuers now face a brutal challenge. Flooded tunnels and inaccurate mine blueprints have slowed operations.
Dangerous gas levels continue to threaten crews searching for survivors.
Disaster Prompts Investigation
The tragedy has also raised uncomfortable questions.
The mine had already been flagged by Chinese authorities in 2024 for “severe safety hazards.”
The operating company reportedly faced penalties earlier this year over safety violations.
President Xi Jinping ordered a full investigation and demanded accountability.
Some members of the mine’s management team have reportedly been detained.
China has spent years trying to clean up its notoriously dangerous coal industry.
Yet disasters like this keep returning — a grim reminder that deep underground, safety warnings can sometimes be buried just as easily as coal.
