A mine on the danger list since 2024 — why did 82 miners still die at Liushenyu?

Wang Yong smelled sulphur "like firecrackers" and saw smoke. "I told people to run," the miner said later from his hospital bed, according to the Associated Press.

It was the evening of Friday 22 May 2026, at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi province, in northern China. A gas explosion tore through the mine. At a news conference late the next day, local officials said at least 82 people had died. They called it the country's deadliest mining accident in recent years.

The mine was not unknown to regulators. In 2024, China's National Mine Safety Administration had placed it on a national list of disaster-prone mines because of its high gas content. The question now facing investigators is how a mine already flagged for exactly this danger came to suffer exactly this disaster.

How many people were killed and hurt?

State broadcaster CCTV first reported 90 deaths. Officials then revised the figure down to 82, saying the early numbers were "initial and not definite", AP reported.

According to a later AP report, officials blamed the revision on "chaotic" scenes after the blast and on inaccurate information from the mine operator.

More than 120 people were taken to hospital, many of them hurt by toxic gas, according to CCTV. Two people were still missing when officials spoke late on Saturday.

What made the rescue harder?

Hundreds of emergency responders and medical staff were sent to the site, in Qinyuan county. Rescuers took turns going down the shaft and faced obstacles including flooded tunnels, the AP reported.

CCTV reported a more troubling problem: the blueprints the mine had provided did not match its actual layout. That hampered the search for survivors.

Some hospitalised miners recalled seeing smoke and then blacking out. "My heart is very heavy," miner Wang Linjun told the AP. Another, Feng Renfu, said: "There are eight people in my family and they all depend on me."

Who runs the mine — and what have officials said?

Liushenyu is operated by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, a privately run company with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons. Local officials said the operator had committed "serious violations" of the law, without saying which. Xinhua later reported that those responsible at the company had been "placed under control".

President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing, a "thorough investigation" and accountability "in accordance with the law". A State Council team was sent to conduct what was described as a "rigorous and uncompromising" probe.

Local authorities also announced a comprehensive inspection of the coal sector, covering gas drainage, ventilation, safety monitoring systems and underground layouts. A People's Daily commentary urged all regions and departments to learn from the accident.

Why does Shanxi matter?

Shanxi, with about 34 million people, is China's main coal-mining province. Its miners produced about 1.3 billion tons of coal last year, almost a third of China's total, according to the AP. China's total output was about 4.8 billion metric tons.

The AP notes that mining accidents have long been common in the province, and that authorities had introduced safety measures in recent years. For comparison, it cites a collapse at an open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia in February 2023 that killed 53, and an explosion in Heilongjiang province in November 2009 that killed 108, according to state media.

A broader inspection could strain output from a province that supplies so much of the country's energy — which is why what the investigators conclude will be watched well beyond Changzhi.

What we do not know

• The cause in detail. Officials have said there were "serious violations" but have not said what they were. No investigation report had been published in the sources we opened.
• How many people were underground when the gas exploded. The sources we opened describe "dozens" trapped but give no total.
• The final toll. The figure was revised once, from 90 to 82, and two people were still missing at the time of reporting.
• Why the blueprints were wrong — whether through poor records or deliberate concealment. CCTV reported the mismatch but not its reason.

What to watch next

The State Council investigation and the province-wide inspection will show whether the list of disaster-prone mines is a working tool or a formality. A mine can be flagged for high gas content and still explode; the findings should say what, if anything, changed underground after the 2024 listing.

Sources

• VPM, carrying AP/NPR: Coal mine gas explosion in China kills 82 people, state media say (23 May 2026)
• The Irish News, carrying AP: Dozens killed in Chinese coal mine explosion (23 May 2026)
• WTOP, carrying AP: Authorities investigate safety lapses after China coal mine blast kills at least 82 (24 May 2026)