China Probes Top Mine-Safety Official After Deadly Gas Explosion

China's top mine-safety official in Shanxi province is under investigation for corruption following a May gas explosion that killed 82 workers. Hu Haijun, director of the Shanxi Bureau of the National Mine Safety Administration, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, the government's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Monday evening.

A brief notice posted on the commission's website did not provide any details on the violations. Hu also serves as the Communist Party chief of his bureau and is the highest-ranking official caught in a widening probe of the province's coal mining sector, according to Caixin.

Background on the May Explosion Authorities announced a blanket inspection after the May explosion, China's deadliest mining accident in years. The mine, operated by the Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, had been placed on a list of disaster-prone coal mines by the National Mine Safety Administration in 2024.

Mine safety has been improving in recent years but remains an issue for China, as does industrial safety generally. Shanxi province, with some 800,000 mine workers, produced 1.3 billion tons of coal last year, almost a third of China's total. Coal remains a major energy source in China despite the country's massive buildout of wind and solar power.