Mining accident


A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. Coal mining is considered much more hazardous than hard rock mining due to flat-lying rock strata, generally incompetent rock, the presence of methane gas, and coal dust. Most of the deaths these days occur in developing countries, and rural parts of developed countries where safety measures are not practiced as fully. A mining disaster is an incident where there are five or more fatalities.

Causes

Mining accidents can occur from a variety of causes, including leaks of poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide or explosive natural gases, especially firedamp or methane, dust explosions, collapsing of mine stopes, mining-induced seismicity, flooding, or general mechanical errors from improperly used or malfunctioning mining equipment. The use of improper explosives underground can also cause methane and coal dust explosions.

Worst mining disaster in history

On April 26, 1942, in the Benxihu coal mine in Liaoning Province, China, what is believed to be the worst mining disaster in history occurred when a coal dust explosion killed over 1,500 people.
The disaster occurred in an area that is now within the borders of modern-day China but was at the time part of the puppet state of Manchukuo established by Japan after it invaded and occupied northeast China in the 1930s. The Japanese administrators of the mine forced Chinese labourers to conduct the mining work under harsh conditions. The disaster began with a fire in the mine. In order to suppress it, the Japanese operators cut off the air in the ventilation shafts and blocked off the mine so as to deprive the blaze of oxygen. Most workers were not evacuated before these actions, and they were trapped within the sealed-off area of the mine; they suffocated to death as the fire burned off oxygen and led to carbon monoxide poisoning. Once the fire died out and the mine was re-opened, ten days were required for workers to remove debris and reach the bodies of those who had been trapped inside the mine.
The dead consisted of 1,518 Chinese and 31 Japanese. Most of the bodies were later buried in a mass grave. After the war and liberation of China by the Soviet Union, the disaster was investigated. The Soviet report concluded that the majority of the deaths were not caused directly by the initial fire but were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning and suffocation resulting from the decisions of the Japanese.

Accidents by year

This is an incomplete list of notable mining accidents and disasters that have killed at least 10 persons:

19th century

DateDisasterLocationTypeDeath tollReferences
Felling Colliery disasterDate|10 April 1824

20th century

  • May 19, 1902: 216 miners were killed in the Fraterville Mine disaster in Fraterville, Tennessee
  • January 25, 1904: 179 miners and two aid workers were killed in the Harwick mine disaster, Harwick, Pennsylvania
  • April 28, 1904: 63 people were killed in Villanueva del Río, Sevilla; it was the worst mining accident recorded in Spain.
  • October 28, 1904; 19 miners were killed in Tercio, Colorado by a coal dust explosion.
  • February 20, 1905 Virginia City Mine explosion, 112 killed.
  • March 10, 1906: Courrières mine disaster in Courrières, France. 1,099 workers died in the worst mine accident in European history.
  • December 1, 1907: Naomi Mine Explosion in Fayette City, Pennsylvania. 34 workers died.
  • December 4, 1907 Giroux Mining Accidents Ely, Nevada. 2 dead; 3 trapped.
  • December 6, 1907: Monongah Mining disaster in Monongah, West Virginia. Official death toll is 362, but due to inadequate record keeping, the true death toll could be around 500. Victims were mostly Italian immigrant workers, including children. The disaster is widely considered the worst coal mining accident in American history.
  • December 16, 1907: Yolande mine explosion near Birmingham, Alabama. Fifty-seven killed.
  • December 19, 1907: Darr Mine disaster in Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania. 239 workers died, including children.
  • August 18, 1908: Maypole Colliery disaster in Abram, Greater Manchester, England. 75 men and boys died.
  • November 28, 1908: Marianna mine explosion near Marianna, Pennsylvania. 154 men killed, one survivor.
  • November 13, 1909: Cherry Mine disaster in Cherry, Illinois. 259 workers, some as young as eleven, died in this mine fire, which had the most fatalities of any mine fire in the United States.
  • December 21, 1910: The Pretoria Pit disaster in Westhoughton, Lancashire, 344 men and boys lost their lives in this explosion, which is the worst mining disaster on one day in England.
  • January 20, 1911: 40 coal miners die in Sosnowiec, Russian Poland.
  • April 8. 1911 Banner Mine disaster near Littleton, Alabama. Of the 128 men killed, most were leased Black convicts.
  • August 24, 1911 Giroux Mining Accidents Ely, Nevada 7 dead 2 injured
  • December 9, 1911: Cross Mountain Mine disaster killed 84 miners in Briceville, Tennessee
  • October 14, 1913: Senghenydd colliery disaster, the worst mining accident in the United Kingdom; 439 workers died in Wales.
  • October 22, 1913: Dawson Stag Canon Number 2 Mine disaster, near Dawson, New Mexico, where 263 workers were killed due to illegal use of dynamite.
  • April 28, 1914: The Eccles mine disaster was an explosion of coal-seam, in Eccles, West Virginia. The explosion took the lives of at least 180 men and boys
  • June 8, 1917: Speculator Mine disaster in Butte, Montana. An electric cable being lowered into the mine was accidentally ignited at 2,500 feet below the surface. The fire quickly climbed the cable and ignited the mine's wooden shaft. The shaft became a chimney, eliminating the mine's primary source of oxygen. Nearly all of the 168 fatalities were due to asphyxia, from carbon monoxide poisoning. This is the deadliest underground hard rock mining disaster in United States history.
  • January 12, 1918 Minnie Pit disaster in Staffordshire, England was a coal mining accident in which 155 men and boys died. The disaster, which was caused by an explosion due to firedamp, is the worst ever recorded in the North Staffordshire Coalfield. An official investigation never established what caused the ignition of flammable gases in the pit.
  • September 19, 1921 Mount Mulligan mine disaster in Mount Mulligan, Far North Queensland, Australia killed 75. The disaster was caused by the accidental or negligent firing of an explosive charge on top of a block of coal, apparently in order to split it.
  • February 8, 1923 The Dawson Stag Canon #1 Mine Explosion killed 123; many were descendants of men killed in the 1913 explosion at the same mine. As a mine car derailed, it caused sparks and ignited coal dust, causing the explosion.
  • February 20, 1925 The City Mine Disaster, Sullivan County, Indiana, United States. An explosion occurred at this coal mine, killing 51.
  • November 3, 1926 The Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster, near Ishpeming, Michigan, United States. A stope collapse allowed water and quicksand to fill most of the mine within 15 minutes, and 51 miners drowned.
  • 1927–1932: Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster, near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, United States. Over several years, 476 workers died from silicosis.
  • January 3, 1934: Nelson III Coal Mine, Osek u Duchcova, Czechoslovakia, Accumulated coal dust explosion. 142 dead miners including one woman. In June 1934, the accumulated gases knocked out the masonry cover above the pit and killed two more workers - the number of victims thus rose to 144.
  • April 21, 1934: 1934 Kakanj mine disaster. 127 miners died in an explosion in the Kakanj coal mine in Kakanj, Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
  • July 2, 1937 The Holditch Colliery disaster was a coal mining accident in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England, in which 30 men died and eight were injured. It was caused due to a fire and subsequent explosions. Fatalities were exacerbated because management chose to try to save the coal seam, and risked the lives of mine workers while delaying evacuation.
  • November 11, 1937: According to Japanese government official confirmed report, after a long period of heavy rain, a huge landslide hit the Ogushi sulfur mine, followed by a landslide and smelter fire at Tsumagoi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, resulting in 245 human fatalities and 32 persons injured.
  • May 10, 1938: Explosion in Markham No. 1 Colliery near Staveley, Derbyshire, England. 79 workers died and 40 were seriously injured.
  • February 28, 1940: Minerary Explosion in Raša near Labin, Kingdom of Italy. 185 workers died, 150 were injured.
  • July 15, 1940: Sonman Explosion near Portage, Pennsylvania. 63 workers died.
  • April 26, 1942: Benxihu Colliery disaster in Benxi, Liaoning, China. 1,549 workers died, in the worst coal mine accident ever in the world. At the time, during World War II, this area was occupied by Japan and the mine was under control of Japanese managers. The overwhelming number of dead were Chinese forced labourers.
  • June 19, 1945: 1945 El Teniente mining accident in El Teniente, Chile. 355 workers died and another 747 were injured.
  • February 20, 1946: disaster in Bergkamen, Ruhr, Germany. 405 died.
  • March 25, 1947: Coal dust explosion in Centralia, Illinois, mine killed 111 miners.
  • July 14, 1949: firedamp explosion at the María Luisa pit, killing 17 miners and 4 mules.
  • September 7, 1950: Knockshinnoch Mine Disaster: Ayrshire Scotland: Liquid peat and moss flooded the mine, trapping over 100 men underground. It took days to reach the trapped men of whom 13 died.
  • December 21, 1951: Orient 2 coal mine explosion in West Frankfort, Illinois. 119 workers died.
  • December 10, 1954: Newton Chikli Colliery disaster, Chhindwara, India. Flooding of the mine was caused by inrush of water from old workings of the same mine. There were 112 persons inside the mine when it was flooded. 49 persons managed to escape through the incline; the remaining 63 persons were trapped and drowned.
  • August 8, 1956: Bois du Cazier disaster in Marcinelle, Belgium. A fire in the mines resulted in 262 deaths; of the 274 people working in Bois du Cazier on that morning, only twelve survived. 138 of the victims were Italian migrant workers.
  • October 28, 1958: 14 died.
  • January 22, 1959: Knox Mine disaster at River Slope Mine, Port Griffith Luzerne County, Pennsylvania – flooding from the riverbed above works killed 12 miners
  • October 15, 1959: Mohawk Mine disaster at Silver Peak, Esmeralda County, Nevada - the collapse of the condemned Hines 202 stope buried 3 miners who were never recovered.
  • January 21, 1960: Coalbrook mining disaster, South Africa, 437 died.
  • May 9, 1960: Laobaidong colliery coal dust explosion Datong, China, 682 died.
  • July 7, 1961: Dukla Coal Mine, Dolní Suchá, Czechoslovakia, Fire and carbon monoxide poisoning caused the deaths of 108 miners.
  • November 5, 1962: Kings Bay in Ny-Ålesund on the Norwegian territory of Svalbard 21 miners killed in an explosion.
  • November 9, 1963: Mitsui Miike Coal Mine disaster Mitsui Miike, Ōmuta, Fukuoka, Japan; 458 died.
  • March 28, 1965: Several tailing dams at a copper mine failed during an earthquake, releasing water and slag which wiped out the town of El Cobre in Valparaíso Region, Chile; 350–400 miners and residents died.
  • May 17, 1965: Cambrian Colliery in South Wales; 31 died.
  • May 28, 1965: Dhanbad coal mine disaster took place in Jharkhand, India, killing over 300 miners.
  • June 7, 1965: 1965 Kakanj mine disaster. 128 miners died in an explosion in the Kakanj coal mine in Kakanj, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia.
  • October 21, 1966: Aberfan Disaster was a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil-tip that caused an avalanche in the Welsh village of Aberfan, engulfing Pantglas Junior School, killing 116 children and 28 adults.
  • November 20, 1968: Farmington Mine Disaster in Farmington, West Virginia. 78 workers died. As a result of the disaster, the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.
  • December 30, 1970: Hurricane Creek mine disaster in Hyden, Kentucky. 39 miners died due to unsafe mine conditions. Occurred exactly one year after the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.
  • June 6, 1972: Wankie coal mine disaster Wankie, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, 426 fatalities.
  • March 21, 1973: Lofthouse Colliery disaster, West Yorkshire, England, seven fatalities.
  • July 30, 1973: Markham Colliery disaster near Staveley, Derbyshire, England. 18 workers were killed and 11 seriously injured when a descending cage failed to slow at the bottom of the mine shaft.
  • December 27, 1974: An explosion and a fire in a coal mine near Liévin, France kills 41 and injures a further six in the worst mining disaster in France since World War II.
  • December 27, 1975: Chasnala mining disaster, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India, 372 miners died and another 130 contract workers are claimed to have died when water from adjacent mine gusted after the wall in between collapsed.
  • October 16, 1981: A methane explosion in a coal mine owned by Kokutan Yubari Mining Company near Yūbari, Hokkaido resulted in 93 deaths including 10 rescuers.
  • December 8, 1981: No. 21 Mine explosion near Whitwell, Tennessee. 13 coal miners died as a result of the explosion.
  • January 18, 1984: Miike coal mine A fire in a mine owned by Mitsui Mining Company near Ōmuta, Fukuoka resulted in 83 deaths and an additional 13 injuries.
  • July 19, 1985: Val di Stava dam collapse took place in the village of Stava, near Tesero, Italy, when two tailings dams failed that had been used for sedimenting the mud from the nearby Prestavel mine. It resulted in one of Italy's worst disasters, killing 268 people, destroying 63 buildings, and demolishing eight bridges.
  • September 16, 1986 Kinross mining disaster. In South Africa an underground fire killed 177 people.
  • June 2, 1988 in Borken, Hesse. A lignite mine devastated by an explosion, 57 fatalities.
  • November 18, 1989: 90 miners killed in the Aleksinački Rudnik mine in SR Serbia, SFRepublic of Yugoslavia.
  • August 26, 1990: Dobrnja-Jug mine disaster. 180 miners were killed at the Mramor coal mine near Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia.
  • May 9, 1992: Westray Mine, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. 26 killed in a methane and coal dust explosion.
  • May 9, 1993: Nambija mine disaster, Nambija, Ecuador. Approximately 300 people were killed in a landslide
  • May 13, 1993: Middelbult colliery near the town of Secunda in South Africa. 53 people killed in an underground methane explosion.
  • August 28, 1994: Rajpura Dariba Mine VRM disaster, Dariba, Udaipur, India: This incident occurred due to flooding of the slurry from a mined VRM Underground mining hard rock stop, where cemented fill could not settle and its plug failed. This slurry accumulated in the plugged shaft, which could not take the load and subsequently failed. All of the material fell in the shaft, resulting in the drowning deaths of 63 people working below.
  • February 22, 1994: Merriespruit tailings dam disaster, where 17 people died when a tailings dam failed.
  • May 10, 1995: Vaal Reefs mining disaster, South Africa; a locomotive fell down a lift shaft and landed on a cage, causing the deaths of 104 people.
  • March 24, 1996: Marcopper mining disaster, occurred in the island province of Marinduque, Philippines. A mine tailings pit fracture caused toxic waste to flood the Makulapnit-Boac river, displacing 400 families in Barangay Hinapulan. Drinking water contamination killed fish and shrimp, while large animals perished. Crops, irrigation channels, and the Boac River were destroyed. A year after, Republic Act No. 7942, also known as "The Philippine Mining Act of 1995" was enacted.
  • August 31, 1995: firedamp explosion at the San Nicolás Pit, killing 14 miners.
  • July 17, 1998: Lassing mining disaster