Every now and then I think it's only appropriate to write about others who have died making Canada what it is today. To me it's a good a way to inform others about our history and a great way to memorialize Canadians who have passed away helping to make our country a little bit better.
Some of the mining disasters your about to read you might already know but some have almost been forgotten to the general public.
Drummond Colliery Mining Disaster (1873)
This mining disaster might not be as well known as others but to the residents of Nova Scotia it will never be forgotten. The picture above was drawn by an artist from an eyewitness account of the blast.
The Drummond Colliery Mine was a coal mine that employed 350 men and boys. Their daily routine consisted of blasting; pick axing and hauling coal which at the time was dangerous by itself not to mention the chance of getting “Black Lung” the coal miner's disease.
On Tuesday May 13, a miner named Robert McLeod set the routine blast charge in the upper coalface in the mine. Somehow an unusual amount of gas was being used to light the charges or something, and when it caught fire the miner spent 20 minutes trying to extinguish the flames. It was to late the damage was done. The mine started to fill with thick smoke and the ventilation in the mine had stopped working which lead to gas vapors building up which eventually caused the mine to blow.
The second monstrous blast blew flames and debris fourteen hundred feet into the air and cause debris to fall on surround communities. Area residents and local provincial newspapers claim the ground shook for hours after the blast.
When the dust settled down the remaining miners who were not harmed started with the rescue efforts. There is no exact word on how many died or how many were rescued, but it is said that the surrounding towns closed shops to mourn the miner's deaths.
5 days after the accident the community and mine owners decided to back fill the mine with gravel, brush and debris and then flooded it. They did this till the mine was fully hermetically sealed.
Westray Mining Disaster (1992)
The Westray Mine is located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. This mine was a new only opened 9 months earlier in September 1991.
Now this is a true tragedy in the sense at the time of the accident it is said it could have been prevented before hand. There had been constant complaints from workers claiming the workplace was unsafe since the mine opened. Owners and officials of the mine ignored negative feedback of the mine and its safety issues and claimed it was one of the safest mines to work in the country. The mine even received the J.T. Ryan Award for Safety for being one of the safest mines is Canada just days before the accident.
Even with the award received for safety, one of the top officials for the mine wrote a document only 3 months before stating the mine was an accident waiting to happen and if changes were not implemented soon then someone would surely died and guess what people did.
On May 9, 1992 at 5:18 in the morning, residents awoke to a massive blast, glass and debris blowing in their windows. It turns out a miner using a pick axe chipping at coal had hit something causing sparks to fall and ignite pockets of methane gas within the mine. The force of the explosion was so powerful it blew the mines entrance which was made out of steel more then a mile in the air. The force nearly obliterated the entrance leaving it sealed but rescue workers manage to get it.
Sadly enough 26 men died and only 15 bodies could be recovered from the site. After the accident questions started to arise and people wanted answers. Forged safety documents surfaced, reports on high levels of coal dust and improper ventilation surfaced along with reports and high methane levels.
It's sad when people have to die because of others greed. This story is considered to be a scandal or cover up to many.
Springhill Mining “Bump” Disaster (1958)
This sad face is one of the lucky survivors of the Springhill Mining “Bump” Disaster. Some survivors spent up to 5 days and nearly 3,000 feet trapped under the surface waiting to be rescued surround by deadly methane gas levels and coal dust.
The Springhill Mine community in Nova Scotia so no stranger to mining disasters and they have seen they're fair share of tragedy through out their mining history.
On October 23, 1958 the Springhill Mine was about to experience its third horrific accident in its history. Somewhere in the early morning miners were working hard at extracting coal and had no idea of what was about to happen to them. An underground seismic event called a “Bump” basically like a small underground earthquake cause the mine to shift destroying support arches and exit ways trapping mine under rumble and with highly flammable and toxic methane gas.
