BEIJING, China (AFP) — A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 90 people, state media reported on Saturday, the country’s biggest mining disaster in 17 years.

A total of 247 workers were underground at the time of the blast, which occurred at 7:29 pm (1129 GMT) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Most of them were brought to the surface by Saturday morning, Xinhua said, confirming that at least 90 people had died.

A total of 345 emergency personnel were dispatched to the site, with rescuers earlier searching “intensively” for nine people who remained unaccounted for, the news agency added.

Friday’s explosion was the worst mining disaster in China since 2009, when 108 people were killed in a mine blast in northeast Heilongjiang province.

Helmeted rescuers were carrying stretchers at the site, with ambulances visible in the background, video by state broadcaster CCTV showed.

President Xi Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to treat the injured and called for thorough investigations into the........

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