As many here know, these largely-avoidable tragedies recall my own youth — and are especially poignant — for me, personally. Awful. I feel it, viscerally, for the families.

My opinion? After 137 dead in three years, Xi needs to crack down on these lax mining conglomerates. Here’s the Beeb — on it all [with my editorial comments, in brackets]:

…At least 82 people have been killed and two are missing after a coal mine blast in northern China, according to state media.

Rescue officials revised down the death toll in an update late on Saturday, having earlier said at least 90 people had died.

The gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province is the worst mining disaster in China since 2009.

There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time (11:29 GMT) on Friday, with more than 100 people said to be saved and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.

Some of the management team at the mine have reportedly been detained. The cause of the gas explosion has not yet been revealed, but state media reported that the levels of carbon monoxide — a highly toxic, odourless gas — in the mine were found to have “exceeded limits”. [Ed. Note: carbon monoxide is not an explosive gas, in any sense. It is one end result / by-product, from the explosion / flash burning of unacceptably high levels of unvented coal-dust. So, this is a red herring. These miners were killed by an explosion of very fine coal dust (the result of unsafe mining practices; Tongzhou having upped production quotas), almost certainly.]

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management has sent 345 personnel from six rescue teams to help with the operation. [It is true that dangerous carbon monoxide levels would rapidly build up in / sink into the lower levels, after a large blast — especially if electric ventilation fans had been destroyed in the original blast, mine wide.]

State media said the rescue operation had encountered difficulties as water has built up near the explosion site[Ed. Note: which would be consistent with the electrical being cut off; water pumps stop running — and the mine… rapidly floods], preventing access to certain areas, while blueprints provided by the mine did not match the actual conditions [Ed. Note: this would mean that there was far more underground mining, likely with less pillar support, and slower ventilation — than even China regulators allow. This may well be the proximate cause of the flash-over]….

Now you know. So… disheartening. This is all… avoidable.

नमस्ते