THREE MINERS KILLED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 822, 16 November 1929, Page 1

THREE MINERS KILLED

Explosion Traps 27 Men TRAGIC PITHEAD SCENES Press Association INVERCARGILL. Today. A FIERCE explosion in the Linton Coal Company's mine at Mount Linton. 50 miles from Invercargill, yesterday morning trapped 27 miners and released volumes of suffocating fumes. Three men were killed by the blast and four injured.

Those killed we re: Robert John Johnston, aged 44. miner. o£ Ohai, married, with a family of five children. Antonio McCoy, aged 27, miner, living at Nightcaps, married, with one child. Harry Kitto, aged 22, miner, living at Ohai, married, without family. Those taken to hospital were:— John Chamberlain, aged 30, a trucker, j living at Wrey’s Bush, single, who i was badly burned about the face : and arms. Robert Ross, aged 55, a miner, living at Ohai. married, with four children, was badly burned about the face, head and arms. James Robb, aged 32, a trucker, living at Nightcaps, married, with three children, received severe burns on his face and arms. Arthur Pennock, aged SS, a horse driver, living at Ohai, single, rereceived a badly fractured arm. rpHE explosion occurred about 9.30 1 a.m. and came with startling suddenness. Altogether there were 27 men in the area affected and the loss of life therefore can be considered! light. Investigations carried out later . in the day indicated that the seat of. the explosion was about 11 chains | from the pit mouth, in one of the more recent workings. Some indication of i the force of the explosion can be gained from the fact that the horse; driver. Mr. Pennock, who was standing ! near the mouth of the mine, wasl thrown bodily through the air a dis-! tance of about a chain. Windows in the winch house more than a chain : from the entrance were blown out | and the winch operator was thrown i against the far wall. VOLUNTEER RESCUERS Immediately after the explosion the j alarm was given and volunteer re-! serve workers hurried to the scene from neighbouring mines. All other mines in the district were soon practically deserted and the suffocating men were brought out as speedily as possible. Many of the rescuers suffered from the effects of the fumes j and several were temporarily gassed j and had to be helped out of the mine, j Practically all the volunteers were! strangers to the mine and were ham-! pered by their lack of knowledge ofj the workings. Mr. R. K. Shoen, sur- ! veyor of the mine, was also in the mine when the accident occurred, but was not badly injured and performed very valuable work in helping others out. The first men to be brought out

reached the pit mouth in about tea minutes from the time of the explosion. From then onward half suffocated men were brought out in rapid succession. Many were so badly gassed temporarily by the fumes that they had to be carried out. As the injured men were brought out in such rapid succession it appeared that one doctor would not be able to give all the help desirable, and the services of two doctors front Otautau were requisitioned. TRAGIC NEWS SPREADS News of the tragedy spread rapidly through the district, and relatives of the men working in the mine assembled at the headworks, anxiously awaiting news from the scene of the disaster. It was a pathetic group that watched the parties of injured men being conveyed to their homes or to hospital. The body of Johnston was brought out very shortly after the accident. It was apparent he had received the full force of the explosion and that death must have been almost instantaneous. A fairly considerable time elapsed before the rescuers recovered the body of McCoy, which was brought out some time after midday. The body of Kitto was not found until three o’clock. SUFFOCATING FUMES Throughout the period of the rescue work dense suffocating fumes hampered the volunteers. Compressed air and a ventilating fan were utilised, and after several hours the air became more pure. Investigation of the damage was carried out, and many of the stoppings were found to be smashed, but otherwise the damage was slight, and less than might have been expected. One or two minor fires wete discovered, but these were extinguished. The mine will be inspected by the inspector of mines and the tragedy will be fully investigated. Ail the miners pay tribute to the presence of mind shown by a miner. James Rogers, who removed the nozzle from the compressed air pipe, liberating sufficient air to keep the men alive until rescue came. “Had he not done that,” said one miner, "we would all have been suffocated.” The injured men, who are at pressent inmates of the Riverton Hospital, were reported late last night to be fairly comfortable. The condition of the three who were suffering from burns was serious, but they were progressing as well as could be expected-