Death toll rises after coal mine collapses in northern China

Police are investigating the cause of the disaster at the open pit operation in Inner Mongolia and have detained people suspected for being responsible, CCTV said. Six people have been rescued so far after Wednesday’s collapse, in what could prove to be the deadliest mining accident in China in years.

Sun Shaocheng, the top official in the autonomous region, said regulators will roll out safety inspections across all mines in China’s second-biggest coal hub in a bid to prevent other accidents, according to a statement. Officials from the central government’s Ministry of Emergency Management have also joined the on-site rescue effort.

The severity of the incident prompted a response from President Xi Jinping, who called on Wednesday for an all-out rescue effort and probe into its causes. The accident has landed at a sensitive time on the political calendar, with the annual National People’s Congress set to begin in the capital on March 5, and safety checks may well be extended to other mining regions. China is by far the world’s biggest producer and consumer of coal.

Mining coal in China remains a dangerous business that all-too regularly causes fatalities. A spate of deadly accidents at mines in 2021 led to a nationwide safety campaign that disrupted operations and curbed the supply of China’s mainstay fuel, contributing to power crunches that crippled the economy.

The provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, China’s other big mining hubs, have launched safety inspections at their mines in the wake of the disaster, according to a note from Citic Futures Co. That may slow production in the first quarter, but the impact is likely to be limited as Beijing continues to prioritize producing enough coal to fuel its economic rebound, Citic said.