BEIJING: Chinese authorities have revised the death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in the northern province of Shanxi down from 90 to 82, state media reported late on Saturday (May 23).
Chaotic conditions at the scene had led to the inaccurate figures, the head of the Qinyuan county government, Guo Xiaofang, told journalists late on Saturday evening, according to state media.
Even with the slightly revised downward death toll, the disaster is China's deadliest mine accident in more than 16 years.
The gas explosion occurred on Friday evening at the mine in Qinyuan county, at a time when nearly 250 workers were said to have been underground. All 128 injured were in a stable condition, according to the latest official figures.
The exact cause of the accident is not yet known. However, an initial investigation found serious violations of the law by the mine operator, Chinese state media reported.
The specific nature of those violations has not yet been disclosed. Meanwhile, several people have been detained.
Shanxi province is one of the centres of China's coal industry. Although China has increasingly focused on renewable energy in recent years, coal still accounts for slightly more than 50 per cent of the country's total energy consumption.
China has a long history of serious accidents with high death tolls in this sector, even though the implementation of safety standards has improved noticeably in recent years.
The current mine disaster is the deadliest in China since 2009, when an explosion at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province near the Russian border killed 108 people. - dpa
