MINE DISASTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1922, Page 5

MINE DISASTER.

TWO HUNDRED TRAPPED. EXPLOSION BARS RETREAT. ABOUT A HUNDRED DEAD. FEARS FOR OTHERS. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 23, 7.10 p.m. Washington, Nov. 22. At Birmingham, Alabama, a hundred miners are reported to be B.irxed through a coal mine explosion itf dolomite. Four hundred miners descended, of whom the majority escaped, but it is not yet possible to estimate the number entombed.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable -Assn. Received Nov. 24, 12.5 a.m. Washington, Nov. 22; The Birmingham mine explosion, which occurred in dolomite, appears to have more serious consequences than at first estimated. The roll call shows that at least two hundred men are still underground. The rescuers have encountered so many dead that the fatalities are estimated to he at least a hundred. It is hoped the remaining hundred are still alive. There is a bulwark behind these which it is expected will be uninjured by the force of the explosion, which it is believed is due to the ignition of coal duet from a short circuit in an electrically driven coal car. The explosion was so great that window panes were broken a mile distant, and a tip load at the mouth of the mine was ignited.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

A PREVIOUS DISASTER. THE OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE. GAS DANGER KNOWN. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 23, 7.10 p.m. New York, Nov. 22. A message from Barnesborough, Pennsylvania, states the coroner’s jury held the management of the Reilly Coal Company’s mine responsible for the mine disaster at Spangler, Pennsylvania, on the ground that they knew gas accumulated, yet they took no proper precautions.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. (The explosion in the mine imprisoned 104 men, of whom 33 were rescued. The mine was supposed to be free from gas, consequently the miners were not wearing oxygen helmets.)