Authorities have reported that an explosion in a coal mine in Yanchuan County, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, claimed the lives of at least eleven individuals.
The incident took place on Monday evening when 90 people were in the mine. Among them, two individuals succumbed after resuscitation attempts proved unsuccessful, and an additional nine individuals who were trapped underground have been located, all of whom show no signs of vital life.
This occurrence is the most recent in a series of incidents affecting China’s perilous coal industry. In December 2020, a coal mine experienced a carbon monoxide leak resulting in the death of 23 miners. Subsequently, in January 2021, a blast at a gold mine in Shandong province claimed the lives of 10 miners.
In 2019, a roof collapse in the Kijiagou coal mine in Shenmu City, located in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province, led to the death of 21 miners out of the 87 who were underground at the time. While 61 miners were initially rescued, 21 remains trapped, all of whom were later found deceased.
China’s mining industries, particularly coal, have gained notoriety due to frequent accidents and insufficient enforcement of safety regulations. In 2017 alone, the country reported 375 fatalities from coal mine accidents. An even more catastrophic event occurred in 2009, when an explosion in a Shanxi province mine left over 430 miners trapped. The subsequent eight-day rescue operation resulted in the successful extraction of 115 miners, many of whom suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, while an unfortunate 74 lost their lives in the incident.
