COLLIERY DISASTER

Evening Star, Issue 22574, 16 February 1937, Page 11

COLLIERY DISASTER

VICTORIAN STATE MINE THIRTEEN HEN TRAPPED Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright MELBOURNE, February 15. A terrific explosion occurred) at 10 o’clock this morning in No. 20 shaft of the State coal mine at Wongbaggi. Thirteen men are trapped in the mine and there is little hope of rescue. The explosion blew up the cages from the 500 ft level and the shaft collapsed l . The bulk o| the. men were attending a stop-work meeting in. the town when the news was received, and the meeting disbanded hurriedly. Fire brigades, ambulance men, and miners rushed) to the pit head to assist. - As the news upread women left their homes and children the schools to form tearful, anxious groups while rescuers sought to find the extent of the disaster. The cause is so far not known, but it is easily the biggest disaster in the history of the Wongbaggi field. The mine manager, Mr J. M'Leish, the underground manager, Mr T. Johnson, and one volunteer wearing gas masks descended in the cage and discovered the entrance to the tunnel where the men are supposed) to be completely blocked with debris. There was nq sign of foul air. ALL NOPE ABANDONED ; MELBOURNE, February 15. All hope has been abandoned for the entombed men. Mine officials announce that, if the men were not killed by the explosion, they must have died shortly afterward from carbon monoxide poisoning. No bodies . have yet been recovered.