Death toll jumps to at least 82 in China coal mine blast

At least 82 people have died after a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China, state media reported on Saturday.

Rescuers were still searching "intensively" for nine people who remained unaccounted for, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The blast took place at 7:29 pm (1129 GMT/UTC) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county in Shanxi, one of China's poorer provinces, with 247 ⁠workers ​on duty ​underground, Xinhua said