COLLIERY EXPLOSION
BELGIAN DISASTER DEATH-ROLL FORTY-ONE KING'S PRACTICAL SYMPATHY (Received May 17, 5.5 p.m.) BRUSSELS, May 16 In connection with the fire which followed a firedamp explosion in a colliery near Paturages, it is reported that of the 46 miners who were working at midnight, 2500 ft. from the surface, 41 were killed instantly and the other five were injured. The gas flames reached a temperature of loOOdeg. centigrade and ignited the coal seam.
The bodies recovered were unrecognisable, except by lamps and the numbers on identification discs.
King Leopold visited the stricken town and comforted the bereaved relatives.
When His Majesty congratulated the rescuers, one of them said: "Yes, Your Majesty, we need plenty of courage for our trade, but it is not much use being courageous. They arc again talking of decreasing our small wages. We are not valued as we should be." The King movingly replied: "The decision docs not rest with me, but I will do my best to see that the cut in your wages is not enforced." The owners of the mine shortly afterward decided that the 5 per cent cut which was to have become operative next Sunday shall not be effective till June 3. f
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21803, 18 May 1934, Page 9
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203COLLIERY EXPLOSION New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21803, 18 May 1934, Page 9
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