A "tough and uncompromising" investigation will be carried out by China's central government into the gas explosion that occurred at a coal mine in Shanxi province on Friday and killed dozens of people, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday evening.

As of 2 pm Saturday, 82 people had been confirmed dead following the gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, according to Xinhua.

The accident investigation team, led by the State Council, China's Cabinet, will make rigorous efforts to determine the cause of the accident, clarify responsibilities in local management, industry supervision and corporate operations, and impose strict penalties in accordance with laws and regulations, the Xinhua report said.

All regions and relevant departments have been urged to conduct a comprehensive review of the implementation of mine safety measures and to crack down hard on illegal and rule-breaking operations, it said.

Authorities were also required to carry out strict investigations and impose punishments over problems including concealed working faces in coal mines, falsification of safety monitoring data, unclear numbers of underground workers, and illegal subcontracting or contract transfers, according to the report.