His Excellency President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has conveyed a message of condolence to His Excellency Mr Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, following the deadly gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi Province that has claimed at least 82 lives.
In his message, the President expressed profound sadness over the tragedy, which has resulted in significant loss of life and left scores of others injured. On behalf of the Government and people of the Maldives, His Excellency extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and to the Government and people of China.
The President further conveyed that the Maldives stands in solidarity with China during this period of mourning, wishing strength and resilience to all those affected, along with success in the ongoing rescue efforts.
The explosion occurred on the evening of 22 May at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan County, Changzhi City, with 247 workers reported to have been on duty underground at the time of the blast. According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, the death toll was initially reported as 90, but was later revised downward to 82, with officials attributing the discrepancy to chaotic scenes in the aftermath and inaccurate information supplied by the mine operator.
More than 120 people were hospitalised, with many among the injured suffering the effects of exposure to toxic gas. Surviving miners recounted to state broadcaster CCTV that they smelled sulphur resembling firecrackers before seeing smoke and losing consciousness. Rescue operations were further complicated by reports that blueprints supplied by the mine did not match the actual underground layout.
The incident has been described by safety analysts as the most severe coal mining disaster in China in approximately 15 years. The mine is operated by the Shanxi Tongzhou Group Liushenyu Coal Industry, with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. In 2024, the facility was placed on a national list of disaster-prone coal mines by China’s National Mine Safety Administration, having been cited for high gas content among 1,128 sites flagged for severe safety hazards.
President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue those still missing and demanded a thorough investigation, with accountability pursued in accordance with the law. An investigation team dispatched by China’s State Council is conducting what officials have described as a rigorous and uncompromising probe into the cause of the explosion. Executives of the company operating the mine have since been detained as inquiries continue.
Shanxi Province, located southwest of Beijing, is regarded as China’s principal coal-mining region, accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s total coal production. Although safety standards across the Chinese coal industry have improved over the past two decades through tighter regulations and industry consolidation, fatal incidents continue to occur. In February 2023, 53 people were killed in a collapse at an open-pit mine in the Inner Mongolia region.
