January 21: On This Day in World History … briefly
Factors contributing to the collapse included the process of top coaling which raised the height of the tunnels and pillar and panel mining reducing the size of structures holding up the tunnel roof.
1960: South African coal mine collapses, kills 437 miners
The Coalbrook mining disaster is the worst mining disaster in the history of South Africa. The disaster occurred in the Coalbrook coal mine of Clydesdale Colliery on January 21, 1960 at around 7pm when approximately 900 pillars caved in, almost 180m underground. The mine is situated in the Northern Free State, 21km south west of Vereeniging. About 1 000 miners were in the mine at the time and 437 died after being trapped, while the rest escaped through an incline shaft. The miners were suffocated by methane gas and crushed to death by rockfall.
Miners felt a strong blast wind, many of whom rushed up to the surface but were instructed to return underground or face imprisonment. Only two miners refused to go back underground. The majority of the miners at Clydesdale Colliery were Basutoland and Portuguese East Africa nationals. Immediately after the incident, rescue teams arrived from other mines in the region and boreholes were drilled into areas where survivors were expected to be. When microphones were lowered, no signs of life were detected. After 11 days the rescue was called off.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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