More and more people are angry after a deadly coal mine explosion in China
A deadly blast at a coal mine in Shanxi province killed dozens of workers and made people in China more frustrated.
The Chinese government is under more and more pressure after an explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi Province, which is one of the country’s main coal-producing areas, killed about 82 people and hurt more than 120. People say this is China’s biggest mining accident in more than 15 years.
The tragedy has raised worries about China’s mine safety standards again. Many Chinese people are comparing it to the many coal mine disasters that happened in the early 2000s. People in China on social media have asked how such a big disaster could happen after years of safety improvements in the mine industry.
Officials said they were still looking into what caused the explosion, but early results indicated that Tongzhou Group, the company that ran the privately owned mine, had done what they called “serious illegal violations.”
During a news conference, officials promised a full investigation and said they would punish anyone found to have been careless in the way the disaster happened. Official news outlets also said that people with ties to the Tongzhou Group had been put under “control measures,” but the government didn’t say what these meant. The Tongzhou Group hasn’t said anything about what happened in public.
In addition, the company has been told to stop working at all four of its coal mines in Shanxi province while probes continue.
Even though the government hasn’t said everything about the claimed safety breaches, Chinese state media have said that there were several problems at the site. Reports said some miners went to the site without the required tracking devices, and blueprints given to the authorities were said to not match the real structure of the mine, which made it harder to rescue people.
State media said the company recorded half the number of workers inside the mine at the time of the explosion. These discrepancies led to more criticism online.
Social media users questioned whether the discrepancies stemmed from attempts to increase production or reduce costs. Despite prior warnings, others claimed that local officials failed to enforce safety regulations properly.
Reports indicate that the government had already fined Tongzhou Group earlier in 2025 for safety issues. The Liushenyu mine was said to be on a national list of coal mines that were known to pose serious safety risks in 2024.
A lot of people in China are talking about what happened on social media sites, where they are sad and angry and want someone to take responsibility. After other mining accidents, online criticism was often taken down quickly. But in this case, a lot of the anger from the public has stayed online, mostly directed at the mining company instead of the government.
China has spent years trying to change its mining industry by putting in place tighter rules, working with other countries to improve safety, and shutting down unsafe mines. But the latest accident has made people wonder again if safety rules are still being followed in some privately owned mines.
Former editor of the Global Times, Hu Xijin, said that improvements made to mine safety should not be undone. He also said that there are still big problems in the sector that need to be fixed right away.
Rescue efforts are still going on as rescue workers look for at least two missing people. Families met outside the mine to wait for news, and some of them wondered if the official death toll was really that high.
Reporters asked a man who was looking for his missing brother why he hadn’t told his parents what was going on because he still thought his brother would be found alive.
