Sawt Falasteen - China coal mine blast kills at least 90, more missing

A total of 247 workers were underground at the time of the blast, which occurred at 7:29 pm (1129 GMT) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Most of them were brought to the surface by Saturday morning, Xinhua said, confirming that at least 90 people had died.

A total of 345 emergency personnel were dispatched to the site, with rescuers earlier searching "intensively" for nine people who remained unaccounted for, the news agency added.

Friday's explosion was the worst mining disaster in China since 2009, when 108 people were killed in a mine blast in northeast Heilongjiang province.

- Gas 'exceeded limits' -

Helmeted rescuers were carrying stretchers at the site, with ambulances visible in the background, video by state broadcaster CCTV showed.

President Xi Jinping urged "all-out efforts" to treat the injured and called for thorough investigations into the incident, according to Xinhua.

He "emphasised that all regions and departments must draw lessons from this accident, remain constantly vigilant regarding workplace safety ... and resolutely prevent and curb the occurrence of major and catastrophic accidents".

A person "responsible for" the company involved in the explosion has been "placed under control in accordance with the law", Xinhua said.

State media initially reported four deaths and dozens trapped after levels of carbon monoxide -- a highly toxic, odourless gas -- in the mine were found to have "exceeded limits".

Some of those stuck underground were in "critical condition", that report said.

The death toll then jumped sharply as the morning wore on.

- Lax safety protocols -

Shanxi, one of China's poorer provinces, is the centre of the country's coal-mining.

Mine safety in China has improved in recent decades, but accidents still occur in an industry where safety protocols are often lax and regulations vague.

In 2023, a collapse at an open-pit coal mine in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 53 people.

China is the world's top consumer of coal and the largest greenhouse gas emitter, despite installing renewable energy capacity at record speed.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST