Chinese officials have revised the death toll from a gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province to 82, down from an earlier figure of at least 90 reported by state media. The blast, which occurred late Friday, is the deadliest mining accident in China since 2009, when a gas explosion killed 108 people in Heilongjiang.
At a press conference Saturday, local authorities attributed the initial error to chaos in the aftermath. "The scene was chaotic, and the company's count of workers was not clear, leading to the inaccurate number," said Guo Xiaofang, head of Qinyuan county where the mine is located.
There were 247 workers underground at the time. Of those, 128 were injured and hospitalized, 35 were uninjured, and two remain missing.
The Liushenyu mine is owned by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal Coking Group. All four of its mines have been shut down, and company executives have been detained.
President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts in rescue and investigation. The People's Daily, in a front-page editorial, urged greater attention to safety and a reversal of the tendency to prioritize development over safety.
