At least 90 people have been killed in a blast at a coal mine in the central Chinese province of Shanxi.
State news agency Xinhua reported that the gas explosion happened at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan county, about 520km (320 miles) southwest of Beijing, at around 7.30pm on Friday after the mine issued a carbon monoxide alert.
There were 247 workers underground at the time of the blast. As of Saturday afternoon, 123 survivors were being treated in hospital, including two who were in a critical condition, while 33 others were able to return home.
Advertisement
One of the injured miners, Wang Yong, told state broadcaster CCTV that he had not heard any noise when the accident happened but he had seen a cloud of smoke and smelled sulphur.
“[It was] just like when explosives are detonated and I told everyone to run. As we were running, I saw people collapsing from the smoke and then I blacked out too,” Wang said.
Advertisement
He added that he woke up around an hour later and had roused another miner and the pair had made their way out of the mine together.
Doctors said that most of those who had been hospitalised were being treated for exposure to toxic gas and needed high-pressure oxygen therapy.