Shanxi mine-safety officials placed under investigation after Liushenyu coal mine blast killed 82; casualty figures changed repeatedly in first hours
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A gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan County, Shanxi, on 22 May 2026 killed 82 people, left 2 missing and injured 128. Reporting on 23 May moved from 4 and then 8 deaths to 82 within hours, which Chinese commentators questioned; authorities said the mine's miscount of workers underground made the first figures inaccurate. The State Council set up an investigation group on 31 May, and by 4 July Shanxi's provincial supervisory commission was investigating several officials of the National Mine Safety Administration's Shanxi bureau and Shanxi's deputy emergency management director Zhang Heping. Shanxi police had also detained more than ten people including the mine's actual controller, per RFA.
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