Workers injured in a coal mine gas explosion in Shanxi province are receiving targeted treatment and psychological support while being kept under close observation, local health officials said, adding that all the hospitalized miners are in stable condition.

The blast occurred at 7:29 pm on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine, which is operated by Shanxi Tongzhou Group, in Qinyuan county of Changzhi. As of press time, the death toll stood at 82, with two miners still missing and 128 injured.

Guo Junzhi, head of the Changzhi health commission, said the medical teams were prioritizing the most seriously injured, classifying patients by condition and providing targeted treatment.

Guo said that 124 workers with minor injuries had already been transferred to Grade A tertiary hospitals — the highest-level public hospitals in China's medical grading system — for observation and symptomatic treatment. Two seriously injured and two critically injured patients were receiving customized treatment, with provincial — and city-level medical experts working to reduce the risk of further complications.

"All hospitalized patients are currently displaying stable vital signs, and their conditions are generally under control," Guo said.

Immediately after the accident, Shanxi activated its medical emergency response plan, mobilizing local medical resources and sending provincial experts to the front line. The experts helped health personnel in Changzhi carry out injury assessment and provide emergency treatment as well as life support.

The National Health Commission organized multidisciplinary remote consultations involving specialists from the National Center for Trauma Medicine and the National Center for Respiratory Medicine to further optimize treatment plans. Experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were also sent to the site to provide intensive care, burn treatment and trauma care.

Zhao Caihong, vice-president of Qinyuan People's Hospital, said the hospital had opened up additional wards as soon as the injured miners were brought in and mobilized doctors and nurses to provide treatment.

"As soon as the patients' vital signs stabilized, we started hyperbaric oxygen therapy, because most of them were affected by carbon monoxide poisoning," Zhao said.

She said the hospital's hyperbaric oxygen chamber can treat only six patients at a time, and each session takes nearly two hours. After Changzhi activated its broader emergency response, hospitals in surrounding areas were mobilized, and patients with milder symptoms were transferred to those hospitals for hyperbaric oxygen treatment.