QINYUAN, China: Emergency rescuers in northern China were undertaking a major operation on Sunday to find two people still missing after a gas explosion at a coal mine killed at least 82.
The blast at the Liushenyu shaft in Shanxi province on Friday was the country’s worst mining disaster in nearly two decades, with 247 workers underground at the time, according to state media.
Hundreds of rescuers have rushed to the site, with medical teams taking 128 people to hospital as of Saturday evening, loaded into ambulances and carried on stretchers.
AFP journalists saw police blocking the road leading to the mine late Saturday, allowing only authorized vehicles to enter.
Helmeted rescuers took turns descending into the shaft overnight to look for the two missing workers, also sending down a robot to probe the mine conditions, state media reported.
