FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, May 27, 2026. The explosion that occurred Friday evening at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province killed at least 82 people according to casualty figures established by France 24, citing the official agency Xinhua. Two hundred forty-seven miners were underground at the time of the gas explosion, which occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time. The disaster ranks among the deadliest China has experienced in this sector in several years.

Shanxi province, described by France 24 as the coal heartland of the country, concentrates hundreds of thousands of miners and produced 1.3 billion tonnes of coal last year, nearly one-third of the nation's total output. This considerable economic weight has fueled for decades a documented tension between sector profitability and rigorous application of safety standards.

The death toll, initially reported at eight fatalities with 38 people trapped underground, climbed sharply as rescue operations progressed. According to state media cited by the French broadcaster, 755 emergency and medical personnel were deployed to the site, where rescue teams worked through the night. More than 120 miners required hospitalization, including four in critical or serious condition. Thirty-three injured workers were able to return home by Saturday afternoon.

Facing the scale of the tragedy, President Xi Jinping called for "full" efforts to locate the missing and directed authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the accident's causes, holding those responsible accountable. Mine owners are accused of "serious violations" of legislation. Leaders of the Tongzhou group, the site operator, were placed in detention.

For French coverage of the incident, this disaster illustrates a structural contradiction: while China has significantly reduced mining fatalities since the 2000s through stricter regulation, serious accidents persist in an industry where safety protocols remain frequently inadequate. Xi Jinping's energy security policy, which relies on sustained domestic coal production to reduce import dependence, has intensified pressure on already strained sites, some analysts argue.