Are systemic safety failures to blame for China’s deadly mine blast?

A gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province, China, on Friday resulted in at least 82 fatalities, making it the country's deadliest mining disaster in over a decade. Two individuals remain missing, and 128 survivors were hospitalized, with two in critical condition. Miners and industry insiders interviewed by the South China Morning Post attribute the tragedy to systemic safety failures throughout the production chain. These failures reportedly included workers not being adequately equipped with essential safety gear such as location trackers and respirators at the time of the incident.