At least 90 dead and others missing after Chinese coal mine explodes | News World

Some 90 people have been confirmed dead following a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China.

More than 240 workers were on duty underground at the Liushenyu coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi province when the explosion occurred at around 7pm on Friday.

President Xi Jinping called on authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescuing survivors and treating those injured by the blast.

The cause of the incident in Qinyuan county is currently under investigation, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported.

As part of a probe, executives from the Shanxi Tongzhou Group responsible for managing the facility have been arrested.

Six national emergency mine rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.

Coal mine explosions in China are often caused by flooding, although regulations introduced since 2000 have reduced the number of fatalities from incidents.

The latest blast is one of deadliest reported in recent years.

Premier Li Qiang called for information to be released in a ‘timely and accurate manner’.

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