On Friday night, 86 patients were transferred to other hospitals, while Qinyuan People's Hospital kept its own oxygen chamber running continuously, Zhao said.

Some miners who had returned home after being assessed as having no major problems were contacted on Saturday morning and asked to return for observation and treatment.

Zhao said that 43 people had been screened at the hospital's emergency department on Sunday. Some chose to return home, while hospital staff continued to review all test results. Patients who showed signs of myocardial injury were advised to remain hospitalized.

"Most patients suffered carbon monoxide poisoning or organ damage caused by toxic gases, but they were mostly mild cases," she said.

Psychological intervention has also been launched. Guo from the Changzhi health commission said that professional teams have been arranged to provide counseling, emotional support and humanitarian care for injured workers and their families. Follow-up treatment, rehabilitation and health monitoring will continue under the guidance of national and provincial medical experts.

Liang Jianwei, 54, a repairman at the mine, said the explosion occurred in a tunnel about 4 kilometers from where he was working. He received the evacuation order at around 10 pm on Friday, and it took him around two hours to escape from the mine.

"My condition was not serious. After I came out after midnight, I went to the dormitory, took a shower and slept," Liang said. He returned home the next morning, but was called back to the hospital for further checks.

At the hospital, he met several coworkers and learned that all 14 people in his group had escaped safely.

Another lightly injured miner, 47-year-old Zhang Taosuo, a member of the mine's transport team, said he arrived at the hospital shortly before 9 pm on Friday and received oxygen therapy and infusion treatment.

"When the explosion took place, I was knocked down," Zhang said. He remained conscious, but suffered a scalp injury.

Zhang said that nearly 40 coworkers had gone underground with him, and he was among the first to get out because he was about 400 meters from the entrance. He reached the surface in seven or eight minutes.

The workers said there were no obvious warning signs before the explosion. Zhang said that while workers had been trained in emergency response and self-rescue, a real accident was hard to deal with.

After reaching safety, Zhang, a father of two, called his family immediately to let them know he was safe.

"I didn't feel much while escaping, but after I reached the entrance, I felt nauseous," he said. "I still feel scared when I think about it. I was lucky to survive."