Why did initial death toll reports from state media overestimate the Liushenyu mine disaster casualties?

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Initial death toll reports were too high because officials said the scene was chaotic and the company’s underground worker count was unclear.

Local officials said the initial figures published by state media were tallied in error after a gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi. They pointed to confusion at the scene and uncertainty in the company’s records of how many workers were underground. Guo Xiaofang, head of Qinyuan county, said the company count of workers was not clear, which led to the inaccurate early number.
Chaos at the site affected early counting
Officials said the immediate aftermath of the disaster was chaotic, which disrupted accurate headcounting. In that environment, initial reporting reflected errors rather than a confirmed total of those affected.
Unclear company records led to an inaccurate worker number
Guo Xiaofang said the company’s count of the number of workers was not clear, and that lack of clarity produced the wrong initial casualty figure. At the time of the explosion, there were 247 workers on duty underground, but officials said the earlier state media number did not match the confirmed accounting.
The casualty figure was revised after the accounting was clarified
The death toll was later revised to 82 killed. Officials also said two people remained unaccounted for, 128 were injured and hospitalised, and 35 were uninjured, reflecting a more complete and updated accounting of the workforce present.

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Why did initial death toll reports from state media overestimate the Liushenyu mine disaster casualties?

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