115 OF THE ENTOMBED MINERS ARE RESCUED

Wanganui Chronicle, 11 September 1950, Page 5

115 OF THE ENTOMBED MINERS ARE RESCUED

Little Hope Held For 13 Men Still Missing LONDON, Sept. 10 (Recd. 9pm) —Rescuers this morning brought to the surface the last of the main groups of 115 Scottish miners trapped underground at the Knockshinnock Castle colliery, Ayrshire, since Thursday night. Another 13 are still missing somewhere underground and rescue efforts are continuing. The possibility of the 13 missing men still being alive are not regarded as strong. Most of the mine workers believe these uen were caught by an earth fall. The 115 rescued miners themselves formed search parties before being taken from the mine, but could not find the missing men. Of the rescued men, 102 have been admitted to hospital. ORGANISED CONCERTS One of the rescued men told in hospital today how the trapped men organised a concert party to boost their morale and organised themselves in parties of four to hack a way toward the rescuers. Speaking of the subsidence which trapped them, he said: “It was like a huge mountain cloud of gas. It extended for about a quarter of a mile.” Rescuers toiled last night to bring

the freed through the blanket of deadly gas to fresh air in the mine before they were taken to the surface. They passed through tunnels of the disused mine in which fans had hastily been erected to clear the fire damp from the old working. From the long shafts, rescuers organised the escape after the entombed miners themselves drove through most of the 30-foot barrier of coal separating them from safety. Behind them makeshift dams of stone and coal were all that kept back the oozing flood of mud and sodden peat which had poured into the mine after the surface collapse. The first physical contact with the buried men was made last night when an air hole was bored through the wall of coal separating rescuer.and the trapped men. This was enlarged so that the men could crawl

or bp dragged through the narrow opening, but the gas danger remained and last night a difficult decison was made to keep the men down in the pit until the firedamp could be cleared as this still proved difficult. The men were equipped with gas masks, hurriedly trained in their use and persuaded to wait their turn to be escorted to safety 116 MEN SAFE The National Coal Board announced today that it is now established that 116 miners have been brought safely to the surface, not 115 as stated earlier. Altogether 129 men were originally at work and were trapped in the pit, of whom 13 are missing.