Old visuals from China mine collapse misrepresented online as recent disaster
- Published on May 29, 2026 at 05:36
- 2 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, Livia LIU, AFP India, AFP Hong Kong
At least 82 workers were killed in an explosion in China's northern Shanxi province on May 23, 2026, but a video circulating online of a deep open-pit mine collapsing and burying several trucks underneath does not show the disaster. The clip appeared in 2023 reports about another coal mine disaster in China's Inner Mongolia region.
"SHOCKING | Major explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in China's Shanxi province leaves at least 82 dead," reads in part an X post shared on May 24, 2026.
"Rescue operations are still underway. With a mine inspection robot carrying gas sensors and a live camera feed sent underground to assist search teams".
Footage attached to the post shows a sudden collapse in an open-pit mine, burying several trucks under tonnes of gravel.
The footage circulated with similar claims on Facebook and X posts after a coal mine explosion in northern China's Shanxi province, the country's worst mining disaster in 17 years, killed at least 82 workers on May 22 (archived link).
The blast occurred while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coal mine. Authorities said the company involved had committed "serious" violations, with toxic gases beneath the mine shaft exceeding safe limits and posing a risk of secondary disasters.
Following the incident, 128 injured workers were taken to the hospital, while rescue teams launched an intensive operation to locate two missing miners.
But the footage circulating online does not show the disaster -- it was taken during a mine collapse in China's Inner Mongolia region.
A reverse image search on a keyframe of the video found longer footage uploaded to YouTube by CCTV+, a Chinese state media agency, on February 23, 2023 (archived link).
The video is titled: "Surveillance Camera Captures Coal Mine Collapse in Inner Mongolia."
Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that 53 people were killed and six were injured after a landslide at an open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia (archived link).
Xinhua also published photos from the landslide site that resemble the scenery in the circulating footage (archived link).
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