Rescue Hindered in Shanxi Mine Disaster; Company Banned Tracking Cards to Hide Illegal Mining

A gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, has left rescue teams struggling as many workers were not wearing mandatory tracking cards. Workers have testified that the company prohibited the use of these cards to conceal unauthorized mining activities.

The explosion resulted in at least 82 deaths. According to the China Emergency Management News, the biggest challenge in the rescue operation was that 103 out of 247 workers underground were not wearing tracking cards as required. Furthermore, the underground maps provided by the mine did not match the actual layout, making it impossible to determine the direction for search and rescue.

Phoenix Weekly reported on the 24th that the No. 3 mine shaft involved in the accident had been in operation for over 20 years. Chen Li, a worker at the No. 2 shaft, stated that many workers did not carry tracking cards because the company was mining illegally. Additionally, there were many 'unregistered' workers. Previous reports indicated that while the entry board showed 124 people, the actual number of workers underground was 247.

Another former worker explained that the company would secretly mine unauthorized areas and therefore forbade workers from carrying tracking cards. 'How could we carry tracking cards while mining illegally? Carrying them would expose the operation,' he said. Another miner who worked at the site for several months remarked, 'Everything is fake except for the fact that the workers are digging coal.'

He noted that while documents labeled the No. 3 shaft as an infrastructure mine, actual excavation exceeded the permitted scope. Despite safety principles requiring exploration before excavation, the mine often skipped these steps to save costs. He also pointed out that falsifying maps is a common phenomenon in the coal industry, stating, 'Basically every mine has two or three sets of maps.'

Chang'an Street Zhishi reported on the 24th that a worker told Xinhua News Agency, 'We bought our own helmets and boots. The team didn't even provide gloves.' Workers typically worked with only a headlamp, helmet, and self-rescuer, without tracking cards.

Public records show that Shanxi Tongzhou Group's Liushenyu Coal Industry Co., Ltd. was established in 2010 with an annual output of 1.2 million tons. In 2024, it was listed as a 'high-gas' mine prone to disasters. In 2025, it was administratively penalized twice for safety issues. In 2023, the Shanxi Provincial Safety Production Committee identified the company for major safety hazards, including faulty electrical equipment, and fined it 1.06 million RMB (approximately 4.9 million NTD).