COAL MINE DISASTER

Otago Witness, Issue 3524, 27 September 1921, Page 24

COAL MINE DISASTER

The following .appeared in our Second Edition last week :

EXPLOSION ENTOMBS 70 MEN. LITTLE HOPE OF RESCUE. BRISBANE, September 19. An explosion which is believed to have been caused bv gas. occurred at the Mount Mulligan Coal Mine, in the Cairns district, entombing 70 miners. About £0 surface hands are working feverishly to rescue them, but the superintendent engineer holds little hope that any will rescued alive. Assistance is being despatched from Mamba. Heartrending scenes were witnessed at the Mount Mulligan mine. Relatives of the entombed miners gathered at the pit head, where news of the disaster, which occurred at 9.30 in the morning, was Ifeceivea. Inside the mine feverish activity prevails. A mountain of debris has to be removed and the rescuers are working until they drop from exhaustion. The task facing them is a stupendous one, as hundreds of tons have fallen in the drive. September 20. It is believed that at least 80 men are entombed as a result of the Mulligan colliery explosion. Four dead bodies have been recovered The rescue work is impeded by a rush of gas in the tunnel. Little advance >s expected till the fans arrive to relieve the gas. One theory of the explosion is that the miners broke into gas hitherto unsuspected, as the hicii had always used unprotected lights. The bodies recovered were badly burned, this giving little hope that the remainder, are alive. The Mulligan mine is owned by the Chillagoe Company, of Melbourne. It is situated 103 miles from Cairns, and has been working for eight years. The output was 3COO tons monthly. The whole productive area is estimated to contain 52,800,000 tons, which is sufficient to last for 200 years. The explosion was so severe that 't wrecked the workings throughout the mine. It was heard 18 miles away. The number of men who were in the mine is not known for certain. One report mentions about 100. So far as is known, only two escaped from under ground. The. under manager (Mr Evans) was got out badly injured. The hodies of three miners (Thompson, O’Grady, and Rumming) have been recovered. All were badlv burned. The rescue work was greatly impeded by large quantities of gas coming from the workings, and some of the rescuers were overcome. Supplies of gas masks and oxygen were obtained, and these are now facilitating progress. The latest report makes the number still entombed 74. Rescue work is very slow owing to general wreckage inside, the large quantities of debris, and the escaping gas. Work is proceeding feverishly, but, there is very little hope of anyone being found alive. The explosion blew the winding plant a considerable distance, and completely dismantled the air fans. TWENTY BODIES RECOVERED. BRISBANE, September 20. Throughout the night gangs of men laboured feverishly clearing the thousands of tons of debris which choke the mouth of Mount Mulligan mine, and by daylight seven bodies had been recovered. Their charred and unrecognisable state indicated how the miners were caught. The work continued without cessation, and by afternoon 20 bodies had been taken from the wrecked mine. Nearly all were so disfigured as to make recognition impossible. It was then estimated that 52 were still unaccounted for, and as gas fumes are pouring from the wrecked workings through the excavations made by the rescuers no hopes are entertained that the remainder of the entombed men will he taken out alive. The rescuers have not relaxed their efforts, as their hopes of saving the buried are strengthened by the fact that O’Grady lived for three hours after having been rescued. Gas fumes seriously handicapped the work, and the mine superintendent and engineer were removed almost at the point of collapse. Frequent falls of earth are occurring, and it is now feared that fire has broken out in the air line of working. Apparently in the cases of the bodies of the men found they were killed instantly. Special trains are proceeding from Oimbulah, Mamba, Cairns, and other centres with volunteer workers. A further special, with coffins, has also been despatched. Evans, the underground manager, had a wonderful escape. A piece of wood penetrated his throat, driving his collar stud into his gullet. After an operation he is improving. A further body which was recovered lias been identified as that of Frank Gillies. EXPLOSION SHOOK THE MOUNTAINS. BRISBANE, September 20. Details of the Mulligan disaster are hard to obtain, as the distance in regard to communications renders it extremelv difficult to obtain a coherent story. It appears that at 9.30 on Monday a series of muffled rumbling explosions' shook the whole range of mountains. The news spread of the explosion at the mine, and a rush was ma.de for the entrance, hut a. steady stream of gas drove the would-be rescuers back, choking them and making rescue impossible for (he time. • Later a number of miners equipped with gas masks arrived from Chillagoe and rescue work proceeded throughout the night, the men working in the moonlight- as the escaping gas made the use of artificial lights dangerous.

CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION. SYDNEY, September 20

Mr John Evans, consulting engineer, father of the injured underground manager, states that some time ago he officially inspected the Mulligan mine, which was extremely dry and dusty. As no fire-damp was known to exist, it was worked with naked lights. The mine was well equipped throughout, and was mechanically ventilated by powerful electric fans. He considers it probable that the cause of the explosion was the dusty atmosphere producing carburetted hydrogen. From his experience of explosions it was unlikely, under the circumstances, that any of the entombed men would be got out alive. Mr J. Y. Watson, the general manager of the Chillagoe mines, after spending some time in New Zealand, received his present appointment. One report states that there was a series of explosions closely following each other. MINE TOTALLY WRECKED. MELBOURNE, September 20. The Mount Mulligan office has received advices stating that there is no hope of further rescues. Tire mine is totally wrecked.