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1956 Springhill NS mine explosion disaster...
1956 Springhill NS mine explosion disaster...
Item # 574453
November 02, 1956
THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, Massachusetts, November 2, 1956
* Springhill mine explosion disaster
* Nova Scotia, Canada
This 48 page newspaper has a nice banner headline on the front page: "108 Men Trapped in Nova Scotia Mine Blast" with subheads. (see)
Tells of the Springhill mining disaster in Nova Scotia, Canada.
wikipedia notes: The 1956 Explosion occurred on November 1, 1956 when a mine train hauling a load of fine coal dust up to the surface of the 25-year old Number 4 colliery to remove it from the pithead encountered a heavy flow of ventilation air being forced down the shaft by surface fans. The flow of air disturbed the dust on the ascending train cars and spread throughout the air of the shafts of No. 4. Before the train reached the surface, several cars broke loose and ran back down the slope of No. 4, derailing along the way and hitting a power line, causing it to arc and ignite the coal dust at the 5500 foot level (below surface).
The resulting explosion blew the slope up to the surface where the additional oxygen created a massive blast which leveled the bankhead on the surface - where the coal is hauled out from the mine in an angled shaft into a vertical building (the coal is then dropped into railway cars). The majority of devastation occurred to the surface buildings but many miners were trapped in the shaft along with the derailed train cars and fallen support timbers and other items damaged by the explosion.
In a show of heroics, Draegermen (rescue miners) and barefaced miners (no breathing equipment) entered the 6100 foot deep shaft of No. 4 to aid their co-workers. In total, 88 miners were rescued and 39 were killed. Media coverage of the 1956 explosion was largely overshadowed by the Soviet invasion of Hungary on October 24, 1956. However, Canadian and local media did offer extensive coverage of the disaster.
Following the rescue effort, No. 4 and the connecting No. 2 collieries were sealed for several months to deprive the fires of oxygen. Upon reopening in January 1957, the bodies of miners who remained below the surface were recovered and the mine returned to operation.
Category: The 20th Century
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