A devastating gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province has resulted in the deaths of at least 90 people, representing the country’s most catastrophic coal mining incident in over 16 years.
The deadly blast occurred late Friday evening, adding to China’s lengthy record of fatal mining accidents spanning several decades.
China’s mining industry has experienced numerous tragic incidents throughout its history:
In 1950, a mining accident at the Yiluo Mine in Henan province claimed at least 174 lives.
A decade later in 1960, a methane explosion at the Laobaidong Coal Mine in Shanxi province resulted in 684 fatalities.
The 1990s brought another tragedy when a gas explosion at the Sanjiao River coal mine in Shanxi province killed 147 workers in 1991.
The year 2000 saw a gas explosion at the Muchonggou Coal Mine in Guizhou province that took 162 lives.
Multiple disasters struck in 2004, including a gas explosion at the Daping Coal Mine in Xinmi, Henan province, killing 148 people, and another gas explosion at the Chenjiashan Coal Mine in Tongchuan, Shaanxi province, that claimed 166 lives.
The following year proved particularly deadly with several major incidents: a gas explosion at the Sunjiawan colliery of state-owned Fuxin Coal Industry Group in Liaoning province killed 214 people, flooding at the Daxing Mine in Guangdong province resulted in 123 deaths, and an explosion at the Dongfeng Coal Mine in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang province, killed approximately 170 people.
In 2007, heavy rainfall caused flooding in two mines in Shandong province, leading to 181 fatalities.
The most recent major incident before this week occurred in 2009, when a gas explosion at the Xinxing Mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108 people.
The current disaster at the Liushenyu Coal Mine represents the deadliest coal mining accident China has experienced since that 2009 incident.
