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N0KFQ > TODAY 10.03.16 16:30l 49 Lines 2004 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 87248_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 10
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Sent: 160310/1517Z 87248@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1906
Mine explosion kills 1,060 in France
A devastating mine disaster kills over 1,000 workers in
Courrieres, France, on this day in 1906. An underground fire
sparked a massive explosion that virtually destroyed a vast maze
of mines.
The Courrieres Colliery in northern France was a complex series
of mines near the Pas-de-Calais Mountains. Tunnels into the mines
issued forth from several towns in the area and more than 2,000
men and boys worked the mines, digging for coal that was used
mostly in the manufacture of gas.
At about 3 p.m. on the afternoon of March 9, a fire began 270
meters underground in what was known as the Cecil pit. Unable to
immediately extinguish it, workers decided to close the pit's
outlets and starve the fire of air. The following morning, with
1,795 workers inside the mine's deep tunnels, a huge explosion
issued forth from the Cecil pit. Apparently, fissures in the
pit's walls had allowed in flammable gases that were then sparked
by the still-smoldering fire. It was 7 a.m. when debris rocketed
out of the tunnels' openings. Several people on the surface were
killed by the blast and the roof a mine office was blown right
off the building.
Fires raged from every opening of the mine and many people
suffered terrible burn injuries. Since the fires continued to
burn, rescuers and family members of the miners were unable to
send help down the mine shafts. One rescue party of 40 men paid
the ultimate price for their attempt-they were all killed when
the shaft they were descending collapsed. Soon, French soldiers
were called in to establish order from the mounting chaos outside
the mine.
As bodies began to be found, a mortuary was established near the
mine. It took weeks for the all of the bodies to be recovered and
identified. In the end, the casualty toll from this disaster was
1,060 miners killed, with hundreds more suffering serious
injuries.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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