On 22 May 2026, a gas explosion occurred at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan County, Shanxi, China, killing 82 people.
At the time of the explosion, 247 workers were on duty underground. According to the Xinhua News Agency, by 6:00 CST on 23 May, at least 201 people had been evacuated. Later that day, 9 people remained missing. Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, called for an immediate rescue of trapped workers and for an investigation into the cause of the explosion. Xinhua reported on 23 May that executives of the Shanxi Tongzhou Group Liushenyu Coal Industry, which operates the Liushenyu mine, had been detained.
As of 25 May 2026, both rescue operations and investigations into the explosion's cause remained ongoing.
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