MINING DISASTER

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 27

MINING DISASTER

FOUR MEN SUFFOCATED

SYDNEY, January 13.

• A disaster occurred at the Barrier mine, at West Wyalong. A party of seven men were working below, and failed to knock. The manager descended, and found five men overcome with foul air. Three—Frank Maguire, Rube Nicholson, and John Mulhall—were dead. Two others •were prostrated and in a serious condition. The brothers John and Bert Navin could not be found, and it is improbable that they are alive. A relief party is searching for them. All the dead men were married. The scene at the top of tha shaft was heart-rending. January 15. The names of those who lost their lives in the disaster at the Barrier mine, W T est Wyalong, are: Godfrey M'Guire, Robert Nairn. John Nairn, Rupert Nicholson, John Mulhall, and William Cunningham. The disaster was quite unexpected, as the mine was not suspected of containing foul air. It is supposed that an explosion of rackarock released a pocket of foul gases. The inrush must have been ~ sudden, as meet of the bodies were found within a few feet of where they were working. Cunningham and Abe Wellington managed to crawl out of the foul zone, and they were rescued with difficulty. Cunningham afterwards succumbed, and Wellington, who is in the hospital, is in a serious condition. The funeral of the victims was the largest there has been in the district. Ail the men except Cunningham left wives and young families dependent on them. The inquest has been opened. It was stated that as the men were leaving work as usual a shot was put in, and the men withdrew. Apparently the old workings were broken into, causing a rush of gas. Wellington escaped the full force through being in a cross-cut. Tha alarm was given by the brother of one of the deceased, who was working in a different part of the mine. The manager, with a relief party, went down and found the bodies. Although suffering considerably from the effects of the bad air, the rescuers removed the bodies to the surface. A sorrowful scene was witnessed at the mouth of the mine. The wives of the deceased had to be forcibly removed to their homes.