COLLIERY DISASTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21037, 23 November 1931, Page 9

COLLIERY DISASTER

f YORKSHIRE PIT, heavy loss of ufe. [TERRIBLE SCENE BELOW heroism OF RESCUERS. ONE BLOWN TO PIECES. jjy Xelecraph —Press Association—Copyright. (Received November 22, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. 21. 'A disastrous explosion occurred last i night in the Bentlev colliery, near Donraster, Yorkshire, half a mile underground. The death roll is 34, exclusive of some men missing. Many were injured of whom it is feared five have been blinded. In other cases the injuries are so severe that the men are not expected to survive. There were more than 1000 men in the pit at the time of the explosion and hundreds of them were cut off by falls from the roo£. Terrible scenes occurred in the vicinity Gf the explosion. A survivor says: "The roof and walls came down like a thunderclap and the place seemed to be a seething mass of flames. The explosion blew me into the air." Bcetors and masked rescuers performed miracles of life-saving far. into the night. By 1 a.m. to-day 14 of the dead and 26 of the injured had been brought to the surface. Bravery of Miners' _ Ex-President. "It was just a mass of flames," said one man who had rushed into the doomed gallery, one and a-half miles from the pit bottom, in which not a single occupant is believed to have escaped death or injury. "It was a perfect hell. We tried and tried to get through but found it impossible." A second explosion occurred at midnight in which one of the rescuers was blown to pieces. This explosion was heard reverberating over the whole area. Doctors, clergy and women rushed to the colliery. The veteran ex-prasident of ' the Miners' Federation, Mr. Herbert Smith, who is 70 years old, insisted upon descending in spite of protests. He remained below 12 hours and refused to go to the surface until he realised that the rescue of those still missing was hopeless.

Owner Works Till Exhausted. Mr. Tom Williams, M.P. for Don .Valley, Yorkshire, was among the rescuers and Major Barber, one of the owners of the colliery worked below all night until he was exhausted. A crowd of weeping women remained at the pithead throughout the bitterly cold night. Mr. Williams in paying a tribute to the heroism of the rescuers said they worked desperately all night in terrific heat. Only the oxygen apparatus used enabled them to exist in the foul atmosphere. Working parties this morning began to seal up the scene of-the disaster to prevent the fire spreading. The last mining disaster in Britain occurred on October 51 when 10 men were killed by an explosion in the Bowhill colliery at Lochgelly, Fifeshire. Among the more serious disasters in recent years are:— 1910.—Wellington Tit, Whitehaven; 140 killed: 1910.—Pretoria Pit, Bolton; <i44 killed 1913—Senghenydd, South Wales; 420 killed. 1922.—C'adeby, Botherhnm; 86 killed. 1922. —Ploan Pit, Staffordshire; 12 killed. 1222. Haig Pit, Whitehaven; 39 killed. 1925. View Pit, Scotswood, Newcastle; 38 killed. 1927.—Cvmn Pit, Wales; 40 killed. 1928 Haig Pit, Whitehaven; lvs killed. 1929. —Blaenavon; 9 killed. 1930.—Grove Pit, Norton Canes, Staffs; 14 killed. 1931. —Haig Pit. Whitehaven; 35 killed. 1931.—Bowhill Pit, Lochgelly, Fifeshire; 10 killed.