Cadzow Colliery Gas Incident, 1929

A fireman and two miners were overcome and killed by gas at Cadzow Colliery, Hamilton, after going in to examine a place where a shot had just been fired on 10 October 1929.

Cause

Officially attributed to suffocation by natural gases -- most likely explosive fumes from an unaccounted-for 10 ounces of explosive from a second shot, followed by firedamp -- after ventilation to the workings was accidentally blocked where a brattice cloth had come loose against its air tubes, probably dislodged when one of the collapsing men fell against it.

What happened

At the top of a steep drift, a place was being driven to connect with another road when it met a fault; a miner bored and charged three shot holes with explosive. The fireman fired the first shot electrically and, after a two-minute interval, went in alone to examine the place. When he did not answer a shout, the leading miner followed him in and likewise did not return; a third man then followed and collapsed within sight of a fourth man, who alone escaped, with difficulty. All of this happened within 35 feet of the coal face and a very short space of time. An overman wearing a smoke helmet recovered the last body one and a half hours later. Investigation afterward found the primer of the second shot hole still intact with its explosive missing, and no trace of it anywhere in the debris despite a careful search -- it appeared to have burned rather than exploded, releasing toxic fumes. The fireman's post-mortem found no trace of carbon monoxide, unlike similar accidents, and investigators concluded the three men were most likely overcome first by these explosive fumes and then suffocated by firedamp once a dislodged brattice cloth cut off the ventilation that had, until then, kept the working gas-free.

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Brattice (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…after ventilation to the workings was accidentally blocked where a brattice cloth had come loose against its air tubes, probably dislodged when…”
• Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “At the top of a steep drift, a place was being driven to connect with another road when it met a…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…10 ounces of explosive from a second shot, followed by firedamp -- after ventilation to the workings was accidentally blocked where…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “A fireman and two miners were overcome and killed by gas at Cadzow Colliery,…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…within 35 feet of the coal face and a very short space of time. An overman wearing a smoke helmet recovered the last body one and a half hours…”

Sources

1. (primary) Cadzow Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Fatal Accidents In Scottish Mines & Collieries 1929 — Scottish Mining Website (reproducing Inspector of Mines findings)

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 30 August 2026