A deadly mine blast in China killed 82. A crackdown could squeeze coal production

Beijing: The causes of a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China are under investigation and officials with the company have been detained after the nation’s deadliest mine accident since 2009.

The accident has triggered a vast rescue operation with hundreds of emergency workers, promises of an “uncompromising” investigation and an intervention from President Xi Jinping and senior officials. An immediate increase in scrutiny is almost certain — potentially threatening overall coal output in the near term, power generation and Beijing’s efforts to prioritise energy security.

Xi on Saturday had called for authorities to “spare no effort” in treating the injured and conducting
search and rescue operations, and ordered an investigation into the incident. He urged stronger risk inspections and hazard controls, especially during the current season, when heavy rain and floods are more common.

Premier Li Qiang echoed the directives, seeking transparent information disclosure and tighter enforcement of safety responsibilities across key sectors, Xinhua News Agency reported.

State-run newspaper the People’s Daily published an editorial on the accident on its front page on Sunday morning calling for greater attention to safety in production and to “completely reverse the tendency to prioritise development over safety”.

Guo Xiaofang, the head of Shanxi’s Qinyuan county, where the mine is located, said at a press conference late on Saturday that 247 workers were on duty underground at the time of the explosion. Two people remained unaccounted for, while 128 were injured and hospitalised and 35 were uninjured. Rescue efforts continued on Sunday.

The Liushenyu mine is owned by Shanxi Tongzhou Coal Coking Group and all four of its mines have been closed and company executives detained, officials said at the news conference.

China’s State Council investigation team will conduct “a rigorous and thorough investigation” into the accident, and called for a nationwide review of mining safety measures and a crackdown on illegal practices, including hidden work sites, falsified monitoring data, unclear worker counts and improper subcontracting.

Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was sent to Shanxi to oversee the emergency response efforts, including search and rescue, medical treatment and handling of the aftermath, Xinhua reported. He urged authorities to verify the number of missing workers and prevent secondary casualties.

Six teams totaling 345 people have been dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management to assist with the rescue, according to local reports, while victims are being treated for injuries including exposure to toxic gases.

China has dramatically reduced coalmining fatalities in recent years, but the government has also pushed output to a record to meet energy security demands.

Even after years of dramatic renewable energy growth, coal remains a key pillar of China’s energy mix, underpinning power generation and industrial activity. It’s also one of few options to make up for current shortfalls in liquefied natural gas supply from the Persian Gulf.

High-profile mine incidents tend to trigger “nationwide safety inspections and heightened enforcement,” said David Fishman, a Shanghai-based principal at The Lantau Group. “This has been the pattern in the past, and it’s reasonable to expect it again this time because of the size of the accident and the immediate strong statements from the central government, including Xi himself.”

In 2021, a crackdown ahead of the Communist Party’s 100th anniversary curbed production to the point that it contributed to a coal shortage and nationwide power curtailments.

Beijing has found less disruptive methods. Even after the last large disaster — a 2023 landslide at a mine in Inner Mongolia that led to 53 deaths — officials responded with a focus on accident prevention, not a hit to overall production.

It’s not yet clear that the Liushenyu mine will trigger a similarly contained response, even though it produces coking coal, and accounts for just 0.1 per cent of Shanxi’s total annual coal production. It was penalised twice last year by local authorities for safety violations.

All 25 coal mines in Qinyuan county have now suspended production, according to a report from Chinese consultancy MySteel, and others in the wider Changzhi area have also begun to stop work, leading to temporarily tight supply.

Bloomberg, Reuters