Monday, October 14, 2013

This Day in History: Oct 14, 1913: Coal miners die in Wales

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Senghenydd_Colliery_Disaster.jpg


On this day in 1913, 439 workers die in a massive coal-mine explosion in Wales. The incident was one of Britain's worst-ever mining disasters.

 http://www.aditnow.co.uk/cache/Senghenydd-Coal-Mine-Archive-Album/Senghenydd-Coal-Mine-Archive-Album-40627.jpg

Postcard: 'The Welsh Pit Disaster.  Where over 400 miners were entombed. Tuesday, Oct 14th 1913. Scene after the second fire broke out', Senghennydd

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http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/61195000/jpg/_61195943_sengh.jpg

The Sengenhydd colliery (coal mine) was located about eight miles from Cardiff in Wales. The mine consisted of two pits, side by side, which held nearly 1,000 miners in total. When the 6 a.m. shift began on October 14, 935 workers descended into the mine. At 8:12 a.m., a tremendous explosion ripped through one of the pits. Dust and debris were sent hundreds of feet into the air and bright red and orange flames went nearly as high.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5123/5298075257_0a8cafeb7d_z.jpg

 http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/61195000/jpg/_61195945_sengh2.jpg
http://archive.rhondda-cynon-taf.gov.uk/treorchy/image.php?i=26248&r=1&t=4&x=1

It took a full hour to get the fire under control so that emergency workers wearing special protective gear could enter the mine. They encountered a grisly scene, with scores of headless and dismembered bodies littering the ground. Meanwhile, in other parts of the mine, hundreds of survivors were waiting for help.
Over the course of the day, groups of 20 survivors at a time were brought to the surface as a huge crowd gathered at ground level. Some reports indicate that as many as 40,000 people came to the Sengenhydd mine to watch the rescue effort. Nearly 500 miners were brought up safely, though there were several serious injuries. With still more than 300 workers unaccounted for, the rescuers dug all night and into the next day, finding approximately 100 more bodies.

 Postcard: 'The Welsh Pit Disaster at Senghenydd.  Some of the victims of the disaster being brought up from the cage', 1913
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Rhymney Valley Rescue Brigade, c.1913

 Glamorgan police officers on duty at the temporary mortuary at Senghenydd, following the coal mining disaster of October 1913.PC 745 Robert Mourton (shown right) had only joined the police in May of that year.


With no further signs of life evident, mine officials, concerned about the stability of the mine, decided to seal the mine and leave the rest of the bodies deep within the earth.

 http://www.caerphillyobserver.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-original-photograph-depicting-a-mother-and-child-at-the-Universal-Colliery-site-in-Senghenydd.jpg
 http://static0.casgliad.sequence.co.uk/Cluster/Media/Items/000/000/020/198/Thumbnails/Thumb635x353.jpg?v=0

 http://static0.casgliad.sequence.co.uk/Cluster/Media/Items/000/000/020/207/Thumbnails/Thumb635x353.jpg?v=0

 http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5208/5298075563_d28b9958b6_z.jpg

Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/coal-miners-die-in-wales [14.10.2013]

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/cache/Senghenydd-Coal-Mine-User-Album/Senghenydd-Coal-Mine-User-Album-34610.jpg 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUf3S2NNsq4fFTP3P-qpPR3sEihLn1O4HfwtUYxKZsTrAAYG47rmYG4goXjnsa6e09OuhHjhTnQ4qdQsLapi09FCB7OTqkamkPBPANXXY1LTeL_X2sP1QqVibxDxObjSh0o1P_YWvM_d0/s1600/IMG_2721.JPG

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