When I reached the road leading to the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, Shanxi province, around noon on Saturday, it had already been sealed off. Ambulances waited nearby. Rescue vehicles rushed in and out. Police cordons marked the boundary between the outside world and a rescue operation unfolding deep underground — in tunnels rendered extremely dangerous by cave-ins, flooding and toxic gases. A huge explosion rocked the coal mine at 7:29 pm on Friday. As of Saturday night, local authorities confirmed that 82 people had been killed and two remained unaccounted for. A total of 128 people were injured and taken to hospitals for treatment. For rescuers at the site, every descent into the mine shaft was driven by one hope — to find signs of life. Among those helping in the aftermath of the disaster is 54-year-old Guang Xinhai, head of the Shanxi Huayang mine rescue squad, one of China's national-level mine emergency rescue teams. Guang, who has more than th...