The Nanshan Colliery disaster is a fatal gas explosion

Explosion

An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...

 that occurred on November 13, 2006 at the Nanshan Colliery in Lingshi County

Lingshi County

Lingshi County is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Jinzhong city.-References:*...

, Jinzhong

Jinzhong

Jinzhong is a prefecture-level city with 3,249,425 inhabitants at the 2010 census in east central Shanxi province of the People's Republic of China.-Administrative divisions:...

, Shanxi Province, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Twenty-four people were killed. The mine was operating without any safety licence as its original had expired. While no official cause has emerged, the news agency Xinhua

Xinhua News Agency

The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...

claims the explosion was triggered by incorrect usage of explosives.