Senghenydd Mining Disaster -may it never be forgotten – 10 September 2013.

October 16 – The British Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth is launched at Portsmouth Dockyard as the first oil-fired battleship. 1978 Usher. In the years leading up to World War One there was an unprecedented demand for Welsh coal, most of it being used to fuel the battleships of the Royal Navy.

On that morning nearly 950 men had been working below ground, and many of them were killed or injured before they even knew what was happening. Births On This Day – October 14. Most of the word’s worst coal mining disasters occur mainly due to presence of flat-lying rock strata, methane gas and coal dust.As China occupies a significant share in global coal output, the South Asian country continues to witness a huge number of accidents every year.Despite advancements in mining techniques and the implementation of stricter safety regulations, They happen with significantly greater frequency in coal mining, which is generally considered to be more hazardous than hard rock mining.Here we look back at some of the worst coal mining disasters that have occurred around the world.Widely considered to be the worst coal mining disaster in history, the accident Benxihu Colliery disasters was caused due to a gas and coal dust explosion in the Honkeiko coal mine, located near Benxi in the Liaoning province of China.The accident, which took place on 26 April 1942, resulted in the death of more than 1,540 miners.Most of the fatalities were reported to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning due to the closure of the ventilation system.The cause of the accident was found to be a massive explosion caused by an underground fire in one of the pits of the Courrieres Colliery.Following the explosion, the fire was identified around 270m underground in the Cecil pit.Ignition of methane by the flame from a miner’s lamp was suspected to be one of the reasons the initial underground fire started.The disaster led to the death of workers inside the mine’s deep tunnels, as well as numerous people on the surface.The Mitsubishi Hojyo accident was caused by a gas explosion at the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine located in the Kyushu Island of Japan.The disaster, which occurred on 15 December 1914, was reported to have led to death of 687 people.The gas explosion that took place underground resulted in the release of thick black smoke through the air vents, affecting people who were close to the mine entrance at the time.On 9 May 1960 in the Laobaidong coal mine, located near Datong in the Shanxi province of China, what is considered to be the China’s second-worst coal mining incident occurred.The Chinese government reportedly suppressed information about the incident for three decades, with full details not being revealed in their entirety until 1992.Killing 458 miners and leaving 833 injured, the Mitsui Miike coal mine occurred on 9 November 1963.The disaster is considered to be the second-worst coal mining disaster in Japan after the Mitsubishi Hojyo coal mine disaster that occurred in 1914.A massive blast, which was caused by a coal dust explosion nearly 500m below the mine’s ground level entrance, led to collapse of the tunnel roof at various locations in the mine.Carbon monoxide poisoning was reported to have caused the vast majority of the deaths in the disaster.Also known as the Senghenydd Explosion, the Senghenydd Colliery disaster occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales, on 14 October 1913.It is considered to be the worst ever mining disaster in the UK.A giant coal dust explosion was found to be the cause of the incident, which killed 439 miners.Carbon monoxide poisoning led to the deaths of most of those who survived the initial fire and On 6 June 1972, the Wankie Colliery disaster in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, killed 426 people.The accident took place at the second mine shaft of the Wankie Colliery, with multiple explosions in the underground coal mine acting as the primary cause.Most of the deaths occurred underground due to methane and carbon monoxide fumes.Occurring on 27 December 1975, the Dhanbad coal mine disaster killed 372 people, taking place at the Chasnala colliery, near Dhanbad, India.In the deep mine, a coal dust explosion result in a blast that destroyed the roof barrier with a water tank above it.Flooding of water into the mine was the cause for most of the deaths in the accident.Taking a holistic approach: Improving productivity in mines and tunneling operations The Universal Steam Coal Company (a subsidiary of Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries) had sunk the first shaft at Senghenydd in 1891, full production using two shafts - the Lancaster and York - beginning five years later. Also known as the Senghenydd Explosion, the Senghenydd Colliery disaster occurred at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd near Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales, on 14 October 1913. As one newspaper commented, that meant that miners lives were worth just £0 .. 1 .. 11 - a sum that, these days, would equate to no more than six pence. The mine was not to last much longer, however, workmen and staff being given just one day's notice of closure in March 1928. And they did manage to find men and boys still alive in the wreckage, the families of the Senghenydd miners greeting each successful escape with joy and with the belief that their own loved ones would soon be brought to the surface. Certainly nearly all of the families in the town were touched, in one way or another. A … And yet, despite the resulting enquiry finding numerous faults that could be laid at the door of the owners and managers, when compensation and fines were levied they came to a derisive £24 - in total! 1913 Senghenydd Colliery Disaster. It is the worst Mining accident in the United Kingdom, and one of the most serious globally in terms of … These were gasses formed by the explosion, waves of carbon monoxide, that ensured those miners who had escaped the explosion would be suffocated due to lack of oxygen unless they could quickly get to the surface. Some of the bodies had been so badly mutilated in the explosion that they could only be identified by certain items of clothing they were wearing.

At 5.00am on that day an explosion decimated the mine and killed 81 men. The explosion that brought about the disaster was probably caused by an electrical spark from something like the electric signalling gear igniting methane gas, firedamp as it was known. But the real tragedy of Senghenydd does not lie in just the 1913 disaster. There had been an explosion in the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd. Indeed, one of the most astonishing facts about the Senghenydd Colliery disaster was that negligence charges were brought against Edward Shaw (the colliery manager) and the owners of the mine.It appears that safety checks were rushed and that more thorough … There are several memorials to the men and boys who lost their lives at senghenydd, one at Nant y Parc Primary School which now stands on the site of the mine. Senghenydd Colliery disaster. The history of Senghenydd is the saddest of any colliery in the British Isles.