Beijing : A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 82 people, authorities reported Saturday, revising an earlier death toll as they said preliminary findings showed the company involved had committed “serious” violations. The blast marked the country’s biggest mining disaster in 17 years, with search efforts underway to find two people still missing late Saturday evening, state broadcaster CCTV reported. A total of 247 workers were underground at the time of the blast, which occurred at 7:29 pm (1129 GMT) on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi, according to state news agency Xinhua. Of those, 128 people were sent to hospital for treatment, CCTV said. Chinese authorities said late Saturday that preliminary findings showed the coal mine’s company had committed “serious illegal violations”, state media reported.