MINE DISASTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24449, 7 November 1940, Page 8

MINE DISASTER

WEST COAST TRAGEDY FIVE MEN KILLED EXPLOSION IN DRIVE TERRIFIC FORCE OF BLAST (Special ro Daily Times) GREYMOUTH Nov. 6. The worst mining disaster on the West Coast since 1926 occurred this morning when, as the result of an explosion at Kaye and ' party’s cooperative coal mine, 10 miles from Greymouth, four of the six men employed in the mine were killed, as well as the winchman employed at the mine mouth. The remaining two men in the mine were injured. Belching forth a column of flame and burned coal dust from the small mine mouth on a hillside, the explosion, which was of terrific force, scattered plant and buildings for varying distances. Some of the debris was found 100 yards away. The men who lost their lives wex - e:— John Kaye, sen., aged 56, married, miner, of Dunollie. John Kaye, jun., aged 20, single, winchman, of Dunollie. He was a son of John Kaye, sen, Lindo Colpo, aged 45, married, miner. of Runanga. Frederick Lew Williams, aged 27, married, miner, of Ten Mile. Alexander Mclntosh, aged 52. married, mine manager, of Gx'eymoutli. The injured men, who had remarkable escapes, are:— Adam Boote, jun., aged 29, married, miner, of Ward street, Runanga. William Burnett, aged 31, married, miner, of 25 Nelson street, Cobden. The only other employee of the mine, Norman Pattison, aged 16 years, a hoi'se driver, of Dunollie, was at the bottom of the jig some 150 feet below the mine mouth, just above the bank of Ten Mile Creek, and he escaped unscathed, the blast of the explosion passing over his head. The two injured men, who are now inmates of the Gx-ey Hospital, are progressing satisfactorily. They are suffering from burns and shock and the effects of gas.

A Tongue of Flame A description of the explosion, which occurred at 9.30, was given later in the day by employees of the Briandale coal mine, which is situated on the opposite side of Ten Mile Creek and at a higher altitude than Kaye and party’s mine. They heard a deafening explosion, and then saw -'a tongue of flame, estimated at 150 feet long, shooting out of the mouth of the drive of the mine. The blast was described as a terrific detonation. The explosion carried with it the winch house and another cabin at the mine mouth, both being blown to pieces and the debris scattered in the gully below to distances varying up to 100 yards. Trees in the vicinity were stripped of leaves and branches, while others were singed and burnt by the sudden exodus of burning coal dust. A sheet of corrugated iron was wrapped around a small birth tree, some 30 yards away from the mine mouth. It was twisted in a most remarkable manner. John Kaye, jun., was employed driving the winch right in front of the mine mouth, and apparently he was inside the winch house when the explosion occurred. His body was recovered, burned and mutilated, amidst the debris of the winch house about 100 yards down the gully. All the other members of the party involved were actually in the mine when the explosion occurred, and, in view of the force of the explosion, it is remarkable how two of them Burnett and Boote, were able to walk some distance out of the mine. Search for Trapped Men Ope of the first men to reach the scene of the disaster after the alarm was given was Mr W. Parsonage, the coal mines inspector for the West Coast. When he was about 50 yards off the mine mouth he was surprised to see one of the injured men. Burnett stagger out of the mine blackened and exhausted. Burnett told Mr Parsonage that Bcote had assisted him part of the wav up the drive. Boote had then dropped exhausted, but- Burnett did not know how far back. Mr Parsonage immediately went into the mine with a carbon monoxide detector and a lamp and had proceeded about two chains when he heard a voice. He found Boote seriously affected by gas and shock. The inspector sought the aid of two helpers, who carried a stretcher into the mine and brought Bcote out. He was placed under the care of Dr E. H. Densem, of Runanga. who had already made Burnett as comfortable as possible for his journey to the hospital.

Shortly afterwards a. party from the Dobson rescue station, comprising trained men from the various district mines under the supervision of the instructor, Mr Frank Duffy, arrived, and. donning full rescue equipment, entered the mine to investigate the possibilities of reaching the four men w'ho were known to be still in the workings. Working in teams of five under Mr Duffy’s personal direction, the rescue squads, who were having their first practical test since the establishment of the Dobson rescue station, made a thorough investigation of the mine, travelling through smoky, blackened workings for a distance of about 10 chains to the face.

About 12.45 p.m, the squads returned with the information that they had located the four men. all of whom were dead. Stretchers were obtained, and a further party entered the mine and brought, out the bodies. The first, that of Mclntosh, the mine manager, was brought out before 1.30, and the others soon afterwards. Rigor mortis had set in. Two of the men were found almost at the bottom of the drive, and the other two about two chains nearer the surface.

Transport Difficulties The mine is worked on a dip drive about eight or nine chains in length, with workings to the right and left of the dip but not on an extensive scale. No great difficulty was experienced in bringing the bodies to the surface, but the willing helpers from the various other co-operative mines in the district, who had ceased work immediately the disaster was made known, had a difficult task in carrying the injured men and the five bodies across a gully and along a tram line with small wooden crosspieces for foolholds. This line has a gradient of almost one in two for over 100 yards, and it provides the only means of access from the main coastal highway, which follows (he gorge up Ten Mile Creek. The bodies, of the four men recovered from the mine had their woollen working singlets almost singed off them, while their hair and faces and arms were somewhat burned. All of the bodies were in a crouched position when recovered. Obliterated by Explosion Besides the outburst from the mine mouth, the ventilating system of the mine was obliterated by the force of the explosion. A building housing a fan about 15 feet away to the left of the mine mouth at the end of the air drive was totally destroyed, together

with its contents. This naturally added to the difficulties of the rescue operations, as until an examination was made nobody could be sure that another explosion would not occur. It was ascertained following an xnspection of the mine that there was no heavy falls of coal or stone, while any small fires which had broken out after the explosion had burned themselves out. The cause of the disaster will not be determined until a full investigation is possible, but it is considered probable that it was caused by an explosion of carburetted hydrogen (fire damp) propagated by coal dust. The mine, which is situated on the right-hand side of the Ten Mile Bluff, and approximately a mile and a-quar-ler from the Greymouth-Westport coastal ixighway and 10 miles from Greymouth, has been worked for only about three years. During that time safety lamps have been used, and no gas xn any quantity has been found. The coal hewed is of a bituminous type. The mine was one of the smaller types of co-operative mfines, with a daily output of approximately 20 tons. The party formerly operated another mine just below the one in which today’s fatality occurred, while Kaye, sen., who had been coalmining in this district for 12 years or more, was also a member of a co-operative party which operated a mine at Twelve Mile. Mclntosh, the manager of the mine, had only arrived from Murchison early this year to take over the management, while Lino Colpo, an Italian, had commenced work only last week. Burnett, who was formerly employed at Moore and party's co-operative mine, had commenced work at Kaye and party’s mine only yesterday. Williams came over from Christchurch some few months ago to work in the mine. He lived with his wife and 14 months old son at the Ten Mile, Victims’ Dependents John Kaye, sen., is survived by his wife and a family of five, one son being killed in the explosion. Colpo leaves a wife and three children, who reside in Italy. Boote, who was injured, has a wife and three children, and Burnett, the other injured miner, has one child. The tragic occuiTence is the worst mining disaster on the West Coast since 1926, when nine deaths then resulted from an explosion in the Dobson mine. It is recalled, however, that as many as 65 men lost their lives in the Brunner mine late in the last century through an explosion of a similar natux'e. \

A GREAT SHOCK MINISTER RECEIVES NEWS LEAVING FOR COAST TO-DAY (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON. Nov. O’. The first information he received of the mining disaster on the West Coast was conveyed to the Minister oh Mines (Mr P, C. Webb) in an urgent telephone message from the Directorgeneral of the Post and Telegraph Department, Mr J. G, Young, who had been advised by the postmaster in Greymouth that a serious explosion had taken place at Kaye's mine at about' 9 o’clock, but that no details were then available. Accompanied by the chief inspector of mines, Mr G. Duggan, the Minister will leave Wellington to-morrow morning for the West Coast. He said that, needless to say, the news of the disaster came to him as a great shock, for he had known a number pf the men involved over a long period of years, and he questioned if a better or more experienced miner could be found in New Zealand than Mr Kaye, senior. “ The explosion must have been terrific,” Mr Webb said to-night, "as it blew out all the ventilating stoppings and destroyed the fan, and thus prevented ventilation. The rescue brigade will enter the mine again to-morrow morning for the purpose of adjusting the ventilation, which has to be done by natural means in the meantime.”