MINE TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 23380, 25 September 1939, Page 6

MINE TRAGEDY

11 MEN FATALLY GASSED AFTERMATH OF FIRE MANAGER ONE OF THE VICTIMS [Per United Press Association.] AUCKLAND, September 24. Fire which broke out this morning in the Glen Afton coal mine, generated deadly gases which caused the death of 11 men, all of them married, and plunged the Huntly coal mining district into the worst tragedy which had befallen it since 1914, when 41 men lost their lives ih an explosion in the Huntly mine. A full list of those killed is as follows: Christopher Blackburn, mine manager, aged 40. William Brown, under-manager, aged 40, William Wilcox, underviewer, aged 55. Richard Ireland, deputy, aged 60. Walter Cole, deputy, aged 45. Jack Marshall, acting-deputy, aged 37. William Bell, electrician, aged 37. Raymond Turley, electrician, aged 34. William Peden, miner, aged 50. George Hunter, shiftman, aged 35. James Clark, shiftman, aged 50. On Saturday morning, during the daily inspection, which is compulsory whether the mine is being worked or not, a defect was discovered in the electrical system of Glen Afton mine. T,»at section of the system was isolated, from the rest, and shortly after 8 o’clock this morning two electricians. Messrs Bell and Turley, accompanied by two deputies or section foremen. Messrs Cole and Ireland, walked down into the mine, which, like the Macdonald mine, is of the “ walk in ” type. FIRST ALARM. About an hour later Cole telephoned Blackburn and told him that he had detected the presence of carbon monoxide gas in large quantities. Blackburn at once went down to investigate, and a few minutes later telephoned the engineer, Mr D. Thomas, asking him to gat the fans going, Thomas at once organised a party, and within a few minutes Brown, Wilcox, Ireland, Peden, Hunter, Marshall, and Clark had gone below the surface. Two hours later Thomas himself went down with some refreshments for the men and he had not gone more than half a mile when he suddenly felt himself affected by gas. He hastily retraced his steps to give the alarm. RESCUE PARTIES. Thomas staggered out at the head, and although only partly conscious, he was able to tell miners standing near by of his fears for the safety of those who had gone down some' hours before. Rescue parties from all the mines in the district were hastily organised, and soon after midday the first party went down from the Glen Afton end, followed not long afterwards by another party from the Macdonald end.

It was not until 3.30 p.m. that the first body was recovered. The watchers guarding the life line attached to one of the rescuers saw miners’ lights hundreds of feet below waver and fall to the ground. They hurriedly hauled on the line and brought up James Mitchell, who, although nearly overcome by the effects of the gas, had with an almost superhuman effort managed to cling to the body of Brown. It was not until four hours afterwards that - the bodies of Blackburn, Clark, Cole, and Hunterwere brought up at the Macdonald end. Almost simultaneously the bodies of Peden and Wilcox were recovered from the Glen Afton end.

Prolonged efforts at resuscitation were fruitless. Determined attempts to find the bodies of the three, others, Ireland, Bell, and Turley, continued during the night without success. Haggard men and women waited in groups for hours in the drizzling rain at the entrance to the mine through this afternoon and to-night, hoping for word of those who had not been seen since they went below this morning. Here and there, mingling with the hundreds of miners and friends eager for news or anxious to help, the wives of members of the rescue parties stood talking in undertones. Grim-faced miners, their safety lamps winking in the darkness, formed themselves into units prepared to face the gas-saturated inner tunnels below the ground. Every man was willing to help. Neighbours made quantities of tea, miners experienced in first aid work stood ready, and doctors were also in readiness. The doctors did good work.

25 CHILDREN FATHERLESS THREE BODIES STILL UNRECOVERED HAMILTON, September 25. Twenty-five children are left fatherless as a result of the mine tragedy. All the victims were married. Ireland and Turley had no children. Blackburn had one and Brown one. Wilcox had an adult family of four, Cole four, Marshall two, Bell three, Peden five, Hunter two, and Clarke two children and one adult daughter. The work of attempting to locate the remaining three bodies—those of Ireland, Turley, and Bell—continued throughout the night, but was unsuccessful. The fire has been located about half a mile from the Glen Afton end, and the work is proceeding of sealing the shaft. This was expected to be completed by midday, and after the fumes have blown out, another attempt to recover the bodies will bo made. The inquest on the bodies of the eight men recovered was opened before Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., at 11.30 this morning, and after evidence of identi..cation by Alexander Johnston (president) and the secretary of the Glen Afton branch of the .Miners’ Union, was adjourned sine die.

STATEMENT BY MINISTER (Per United Press Association.] September 25. “ On receipt of information of the disaster I immediately arranged for a special plane to be ready on Monday morning to convey experienced men and

life saving apparatus from Greymouth to Hamilton,” , said the Minister of Mines, Mr Webb. “We are awaiting advice from the mine manager before sending men. In any case, the Mines Department has made all arrangements to render whatever assistance is necessary. Efforts are being made to put stoppings in to prevent the fire spreading. It may be a little while before the other three bodies can be recovered. “ The deepest sympathy of myself and the Government goes out to the relatives and to everyone associated with the men. I was positively shocked by the news. We have had a remarkably good run over the last few years, and the disaster comes as a painful shock. It is one of those accidents which it is almost certain would have happened just the same even if a life saving brigade had been established in the district.”- V