Xi urges all efforts to rescue after coal mine collapse

President Xi Jinping made important instructions on the collapse of a coal mine in Alshaa League, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, requiring all efforts to be made to search and rescue the missing and treat the injured.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the instruction following the incident, urging ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and maintaining overall social stability.

Two died and around 50 lost contacts after a vast portion of an outdoor opencast mine in Alshaa Left Banner, located in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, burying both workers and vehicles, local authorities reported at around 7 pm on Wednesday.

A preliminary investigation showed that more than 50 people were trapped under the mine, according to the emergency management authority in the league.

The Inner Mongolian branch of the National Mine Safety Administration has initiated a first-level accident rescue initiative. 

Now eight rescue teams of 334 people, 129 vehicles for rescue, and nine safety production experts have arrived at the scene. Eight people trapped were saved, among whom two showed absence of vital signs and six were sent to hospital, according to the publicity bureau of Alshaa League.